Early exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke and the development of allergic diseases in 4 year old children in Malmö, Sweden

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Earlier studies have shown an association between secondhand tobacco smoke and allergy development in children. Furthermore, there is an increased risk of developing an allergy if the parents have an allergy. However, there are only few studies investigating the potential synergistic effect of secondhand tobacco smoke and allergic heredity on the development of an allergy.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study was population-based cross-sectional with retrospective information on presence of secondhand tobacco smoke during early life. The study population consisted of children who visited the Child Health Care (CHC) centres in Malmö for their 4-year health checkup during 2006-2008 and whose parents answered a self-administered questionnaire (n = 4,278 children). The questionnaire was distributed to parents of children registered with the CHC and invited for the 4-year checkup during the study period.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was a two to four times increased odds of the child having an allergy or having sought medical care due to allergic symptoms if at least one parent had an allergy, while there were rather small increased odds related to presence of secondhand smoke during the child's first month in life or at the age of 8 months. However, children with heredity for allergies and with presence of secondhand tobacco smoke during their first year in life had highly increased odds of developing an allergy and having sought medical care due to allergic symptoms at 4 years of age. Thus, there was a synergistic effect enhancing the independent effects of heredity and exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke on allergy development.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Children with a family history of allergies and early exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke is a risk group that prevention and intervention should pay extra attention to. The tobacco smoke effect on children is an essential and urgent question considering it not being self chosen, possibly giving life lasting negative health effects and being possible to reduce.</p

Validation of epidemiological tools for eczema diagnosis in brazilian children: the isaac's and uk working party's criteria

BACKGROUND: Instruments for field diagnosis of eczema are increasingly used, and it is essential to understand specific limitations to make best use of their strengths. Our objective was to assess the validity of ISAAC and UK Working Party criteria for field diagnosis of eczema in children. METHODS: We performed a cohort study in urban Brazil. Parents/guardians of 1,419 children answered ISAAC phase II questionnaire. Children were examined for skin lesions (UKWP protocol). Two dermatologists examined most cases of eczema (according to ISAAC or UKWP), and a sample without eczema. RESULTS: Agreement between repeat questionnaires on the filter question was poor (kappa = 0.4). Agreement between the 2 dermatologists was fair (kappa = 0.6). False positive reports included scabies in 39% of ISAAC cases and 33% of UKWP cases. Sensitivity and PPV were low (ISAAC: 37.1% and 16.1%; UKWP: 28.6% and 23.8%). Specificity and NPV were high (ISAAC: 90.0% and 96.6%; UKWP: 95.3% and 96.2%). One-year prevalence of eczema was 11.3% (ISAAC), 5.9% (UKWP) and 4.9% (adjusted dermatologist diagnosis). Point prevalence of scabies (alone or not) was 43%, 33% and 18%, in eczemas according to ISAAC, to UKWP and to dermatologists. The reasons why children with eczema were not identified by ISAAC or UKWP were wrongly denying dry skin, itchy rash or personal history of atopic diseases. A limitation is that questionnaire was already validated in Brazil, but not field tested in this specific setting. CONCLUSIONS: Studies using UKWP or ISAAC criteria should include a validation arm, to contribute to the understanding of potential limitations of their use in different contexts and to explore solutions. We list specific recommendations

Measurement of the Bottom-Strange Meson Mixing Phase in the Full CDF Data Set

We report a measurement of the bottom-strange meson mixing phase \beta_s using the time evolution of B0_s -> J/\psi (->\mu+\mu-) \phi (-> K+ K-) decays in which the quark-flavor content of the bottom-strange meson is identified at production. This measurement uses the full data set of proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt(s)= 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to 9.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity. We report confidence regions in the two-dimensional space of \beta_s and the B0_s decay-width difference \Delta\Gamma_s, and measure \beta_s in [-\pi/2, -1.51] U [-0.06, 0.30] U [1.26, \pi/2] at the 68% confidence level, in agreement with the standard model expectation. Assuming the standard model value of \beta_s, we also determine \Delta\Gamma_s = 0.068 +- 0.026 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps-1 and the mean B0_s lifetime, \tau_s = 1.528 +- 0.019 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps, which are consistent and competitive with determinations by other experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett 109, 171802 (2012

C-tactile afferent stimulating touch carries a positive affective value

The rewarding sensation of touch in affiliative interactions is hypothesized to be underpinned by a specialized system of nerve fibers called C-Tactile afferents (CTs), which respond optimally to slowly moving, gentle touch, typical of a caress. However, empirical evidence to support the theory that CTs encode socially relevant, rewarding tactile information in humans is currently limited. While in healthy participants, touch applied at CT optimal velocities (1-10cm/sec) is reliably rated as subjectively pleasant, neuronopathy patients lacking large myelinated afferents, but with intact C-fibres, report that the conscious sensation elicited by stimulation of CTs is rather vague. Given this weak perceptual impact the value of self-report measures for assessing the specific affective value of CT activating touch appears limited. Therefore, we combined subjective ratings of touch pleasantness with implicit measures of affective state (facial electromyography) and autonomic arousal (heart rate) to determine whether CT activation carries a positive affective value. We recorded the activity of two key emotion-relevant facial muscle sites (zygomaticus major—smile muscle, positive affect & corrugator supercilii—frown muscle, negative affect) while participants evaluated the pleasantness of experimenter administered stroking touch, delivered using a soft brush, at two velocities (CT optimal 3cm/sec & CT non-optimal 30cm/sec), on two skin sites (CT innervated forearm & non-CT innervated palm). On both sites, 3cm/sec stroking touch was rated as more pleasant and produced greater heart rate deceleration than 30cm/sec stimulation. However, neither self-report ratings nor heart rate responses discriminated stimulation on the CT innervated arm from stroking of the non-CT innervated palm. In contrast, significantly greater activation of the zygomaticus major (smiling muscle) was seen specifically to CT optimal, 3cm/sec, stroking on the forearm in comparison to all other stimuli. These results offer the first empirical evidence in humans that tactile stimulation that optimally activates CTs carries a positive affective valence that can be measured implicitly

Smoking, Alcohol, Diabetes, Obesity, Socioeconomic Status, and the Risk of Colorectal Cancer in a Population-Based Case–Control Study

Purpose: Although previous research has identified factors that may determine willingness to participate in research, relatively few studies have attempted to quantify the impact non-participation may have on exposure–disease associations. The aims of this study were to (a) investigate the associations between smoking, alcohol, diabetes, obesity, and socioeconomic status and the risk of colorectal cancer in a case–control study (59.7 and 47.2 % response fractions among cases and controls, respectively); and (b) perform sensitivity analyses to examine the possible influence of non-participation. Methods: Logistic regression was used to estimate the exposure–disease associations. We then investigated the associations between various demographic and health factors and the likelihood that an individual would participate in the case–control study and then performed two sensitivity analyses (sampling weights and multiple imputation) to examine whether non-participation bias may have influenced the exposure–disease associations. Results: The exposures alcohol, smoking, and diabetes were associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer. We found some differences between cases and controls when examining the factors associated with the participation in the study, and in the sensitivity analyses, the exposure–disease associations were slightly attenuated when compared with those from the original analysis. Conclusion: Non-participation may have biased the risk estimates away from the null, but generally not enough to change the conclusions of the study

Changing patterns in diagnostic strategies and the treatment of blunt injury to solid abdominal organs

Background: In recent years there has been increasing interest shown in the nonoperative management (NOM) of blunt traumatic injury. The growing use of NOM for blunt abdominal organ injury has been made possible because of the progress made in the quality and availability of the multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) scan and the development of minimally invasive intervention options such as angioembolization. Aim: The purpose of this review is to describe the changes that have been made over the past decades in the management of blunt trauma to the liver, spleen and kidney. Results: The management of blunt abdominal injury has changed considerably. Focused assessment with sonography for trauma (FAST) examination has replaced diagnostic peritoneal lavage as diagnostic modality in the primary survey. MDCT scanning with intravenous contrast is now the gold standard diagnostic modality in hemodynamically stable patients with intra-abdominal fluid detected with FAST. One of the current discussions in the l erature is whether a whole body MDCT survey should be implemented in the primary survey. Conclusions The progress in imaging techniques has contributed to NOM being currently the treatment of choice for hemodynamically stable patients. Angioembolization can be used as an adjunct to NOM and has increased the succe

Meeting the International Health Regulations (2005) surveillance core capacity requirements at the subnational level in Europe: the added value of syndromic surveillance

BACKGROUND: The revised World Health Organization's International Health Regulations (2005) request a timely and all-hazard approach towards surveillance, especially at the subnational level. We discuss three questions of syndromic surveillance application in the European context for assessing public health emergencies of international concern: (i) can syndromic surveillance support countries, especially the subnational level, to meet the International Health Regulations (2005) core surveillance capacity requirements, (ii) are European syndromic surveillance systems comparable to enable cross-border surveillance, and (iii) at which administrative level should syndromic surveillance best be applied? DISCUSSION: Despite the ongoing criticism on the usefulness of syndromic surveillance which is related to its clinically nonspecific output, we demonstrate that it was a suitable supplement for timely assessment of the impact of three different public health emergencies affecting Europe. Subnational syndromic surveillance analysis in some cases proved to be of advantage for detecting an event earlier compared to national level analysis. However, in many cases, syndromic surveillance did not detect local events with only a small number of cases. The European Commission envisions comparability of surveillance output to enable cross-border surveillance. Evaluated against European infectious disease case definitions, syndromic surveillance can contribute to identify cases that might fulfil the clinical case definition but the approach is too unspecific to comply to complete clinical definitions. Syndromic surveillance results still seem feasible for comparable cross-border surveillance as similarly defined syndromes are analysed. We suggest a new model of implementing syndromic surveillance at the subnational level. In this model, syndromic surveillance systems are fine-tuned to their local context and integrated into the existing subnational surveillance and reporting structure. By enhancing population coverage, events covering several jurisdictions can be identified at higher levels. However, the setup of decentralised and locally adjusted syndromic surveillance systems is more complex compared to the setup of one national or local system. SUMMARY: We conclude that syndromic surveillance if implemented with large population coverage at the subnational level can help detect and assess the local and regional effect of different types of public health emergencies in a timely manner as required by the International Health Regulations (2005)

Understanding the limitations of radiation-induced cell cycle checkpoints

The DNA damage response pathways involve processes of double-strand break (DSB) repair and cell cycle checkpoint control to prevent or limit entry into S phase or mitosis in the presence of unrepaired damage. Checkpoints can function to permanently remove damaged cells from the actively proliferating population but can also halt the cell cycle temporarily to provide time for the repair of DSBs. Although efficient in their ability to limit genomic instability, checkpoints are not foolproof but carry inherent limitations. Recent work has demonstrated that the G1/S checkpoint is slowly activated and allows cells to enter S phase in the presence of unrepaired DSBs for about 4–6 h post irradiation. During this time, only a slowing but not abolition of S-phase entry is observed. The G2/M checkpoint, in contrast, is quickly activated but only responds to a level of 10–20 DSBs such that cells with a low number of DSBs do not initiate the checkpoint or terminate arrest before repair is complete. Here, we discuss the limitations of these checkpoints in the context of the current knowledge of the factors involved. We suggest that the time needed to fully activate G1/S arrest reflects the existence of a restriction point in G1-phase progression. This point has previously been defined as the point when mitogen starvation fails to prevent cells from entering S phase. However, cells that passed the restriction point can respond to DSBs, albeit with reduced efficiency

Subcortical volumetric abnormalities in bipolar disorder.

Considerable uncertainty exists about the defining brain changes associated with bipolar disorder (BD). Understanding and quantifying the sources of uncertainty can help generate novel clinical hypotheses about etiology and assist in the development of biomarkers for indexing disease progression and prognosis. Here we were interested in quantifying case-control differences in intracranial volume (ICV) and each of eight subcortical brain measures: nucleus accumbens, amygdala, caudate, hippocampus, globus pallidus, putamen, thalamus, lateral ventricles. In a large study of 1710 BD patients and 2594 healthy controls, we found consistent volumetric reductions in BD patients for mean hippocampus (Cohen's d=-0.232; P=3.50 × 10(-7)) and thalamus (d=-0.148; P=4.27 × 10(-3)) and enlarged lateral ventricles (d=-0.260; P=3.93 × 10(-5)) in patients. No significant effect of age at illness onset was detected. Stratifying patients based on clinical subtype (BD type I or type II) revealed that BDI patients had significantly larger lateral ventricles and smaller hippocampus and amygdala than controls. However, when comparing BDI and BDII patients directly, we did not detect any significant differences in brain volume. This likely represents similar etiology between BD subtype classifications. Exploratory analyses revealed significantly larger thalamic volumes in patients taking lithium compared with patients not taking lithium. We detected no significant differences between BDII patients and controls in the largest such comparison to date. Findings in this study should be interpreted with caution and with careful consideration of the limitations inherent to meta-analyzed neuroimaging comparisons.Molecular Psychiatry advance online publication, 9 February 2016; doi:10.1038/mp.2015.227