Effectiveness of a group-based psychosocial program to prevent depression and anxiety in older people attending primary health care centres: a randomised controlled trial

Background: Evidence about the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions to reduce the incidence of depression and anxiety and promote subjective well-being in older people is limited, particularly in Latin-American countries. This study thus aims to assess a program specifically designed to address this issue in persons aged 65 to 80 and attending primary health care centres. Method: Older people who use primary care centres are to be randomly assigned to the program or to a control group. Only independent users will be included; those having had a major depressive disorder or an anxiety disorder in the last 6 months will be excluded. The program is group based; it includes cognitive stimulation, expansion of social support networks and cognitive behaviour strategies. Depressive and anxiety symptoms and disorders, as well as psychological well-being, will be assessed using standardised instruments, once before implementing the program and later, after 18 and 36 weeks. Discussion: Primary care is a setting where interventions to improve mental health can be beneficial. Providing evidence-based programs that work with older people is a priority for public mental health

Development and validation of a risk model for prediction of hazardous alcohol consumption in general practice attendees : the PredictAL study

Background: Little is known about the risk of progression to hazardous alcohol use in people currently drinking at safe limits. We aimed to develop a prediction model (predictAL) for the development of hazardous drinking in safe drinkers. Methods: A prospective cohort study of adult general practice attendees in six European countries and Chile followed up over 6 months. We recruited 10,045 attendees between April 2003 to February 2005. 6193 European and 2462 Chilean attendees recorded AUDIT scores below 8 in men and 5 in women at recruitment and were used in modelling risk. 38 risk factors were measured to construct a risk model for the development of hazardous drinking using stepwise logistic regression. The model was corrected for over fitting and tested in an external population. The main outcome was hazardous drinking defined by an AUDIT score >= 8 in men and >= 5 in women. Results: 69.0% of attendees were recruited, of whom 89.5% participated again after six months. The risk factors in the final predictAL model were sex, age, country, baseline AUDIT score, panic syndrome and lifetime alcohol problem. The predictAL model's average c-index across all six European countries was 0.839 (95% CI 0.805, 0.873). The Hedge's g effect size for the difference in log odds of predicted probability between safe drinkers in Europe who subsequently developed hazardous alcohol use and those who did not was 1.38 (95% CI 1.25, 1.51). External validation of the algorithm in Chilean safe drinkers resulted in a c-index of 0.781 (95% CI 0.717, 0.846) and Hedge's g of 0.68 (95% CI 0.57, 0.78). Conclusions: The predictAL risk model for development of hazardous consumption in safe drinkers compares favourably with risk algorithms for disorders in other medical settings and can be a useful first step in prevention of alcohol misuse

Tissue damage during acute Trypanosoma cruzi infection is associated with reduced reparative regulatory T cell response and can be attenuated by early interleukin-33 administration

Fil: Boccardo, Santiago. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Argentina.Fil: Boccardo, Santiago. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología, Argentina.Fil: Rodriguez, Constanza. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Argentina.Fil: Rodriguez, Constanza. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología, Argentina.Fil: Araujo Furlan, Cintia L. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Argentina.Fil: Araujo Furlan, Cintia L. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología, Argentina.Fil: Abrate, Carolina P. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Argentina.Fil: Abrate, Carolina P. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología, Argentina.Fil: Almada, Laura. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Argentina.Fil: Almada, Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología, Argentina.Fil: Giménez, Camila M. S. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Argentina.Fil: Giménez, Camila M. S. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología, Argentina.Fil: Saldivia Concepción, Manuel A. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Argentina.Fil: Saldivia Concepción, Manuel A. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología, Argentina.Fil: Skewes-Cox Peter. BioMedical Research, Novartis, Emeryville, California, United States.Fil: Rao, Srinivasa P. S. BioMedical Research, Novartis, Emeryville, California, United States.Fil: Montes, Carolina L. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Argentina.Fil: Montes, Carolina L. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología, Argentina.Fil: Gruppi, Adriana. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Argentina.Fil: Gruppi, Adriana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología, Argentina.Fil: Acosta Rodríguez, Eva V. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Argentina.Fil: Acosta Rodríguez, Eva V. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología, Argentina.This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review.Tissue-repair regulatory T cells (trTregs) constitute a specialized regulatory subset renowned for orchestrating tissue homeostasis and repair. While extensively investigated in sterile injury models, their role in infection-induced tissue damage and the regulation of protective antimicrobial immunity remains largely unexplored. This investigation examines trTregs dynamics during acute Trypanosoma cruzi infection, a unique scenario combining extensive tissue damage with robust antiparasitic CD8+ immunity. Contrary to conventional models of sterile injury, our findings reveal a pronounced reduction of trTregs in secondary lymphoid organs and tissues during acute T. cruzi infection. This unexpected decline correlates with systemic as well local tissue damage, as evidenced by histological alterations and downregulation of repair-associated genes in skeletal muscle. Remarkably, a parallel decrease in systemic levels of IL-33, a crucial factor for trTregs survival and expansion, was detected. We found that early treatment with systemic recombinant IL-33 during infection induces a notable surge in trTregs, accompanied by an expansion of type 2 innate lymphoid cells and parasite-specific CD8+ cells. This intervention results in a mitigated tissue damage profile and reduced parasite burden in infected mice. These findings shed light on trTregs biology during infection-induced injury and demonstrate the feasibility of enhancing a specialized Tregs response without impairing the magnitude of effector immune mechanisms, ultimately benefiting the host. Furthermore, this study settles groundwork of relevance for potential therapeutic strategies in Chagas’ disease and other infections.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionFil: Boccardo, Santiago. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Argentina.Fil: Boccardo, Santiago. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología, Argentina.Fil: Rodriguez, Constanza. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Argentina.Fil: Rodriguez, Constanza. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología, Argentina.Fil: Araujo Furlan, Cintia L. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Argentina.Fil: Araujo Furlan, Cintia L. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología, Argentina.Fil: Abrate, Carolina P. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Argentina.Fil: Abrate, Carolina P. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología, Argentina.Fil: Almada, Laura. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Argentina.Fil: Almada, Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología, Argentina.Fil: Giménez, Camila M. S. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Argentina.Fil: Giménez, Camila M. S. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología, Argentina.Fil: Saldivia Concepción, Manuel A. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Argentina.Fil: Saldivia Concepción, Manuel A. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología, Argentina.Fil: Skewes-Cox Peter. BioMedical Research, Novartis, Emeryville, California, United States.Fil: Rao, Srinivasa P. S. BioMedical Research, Novartis, Emeryville, California, United States.Fil: Montes, Carolina L. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Argentina.Fil: Montes, Carolina L. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología, Argentina.Fil: Gruppi, Adriana. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Argentina.Fil: Gruppi, Adriana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología, Argentina.Fil: Acosta Rodríguez, Eva V. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Argentina.Fil: Acosta Rodríguez, Eva V. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología, Argentina.This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review

First results from the HENSA/ANAIS collaboration at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory

The HENSA/ANAIS collaboration aims for the precise determination of the neutron flux that could affect ANAIS-112, an experiment looking for the dark matter annual modulation using NaI(Tl) scintillators. In this work, the first measurements of the neutron flux and Monte Carlo simulations of the neutron spectrum are reported.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Randomized cluster trial of a parenting program in Chile: Key mediators in the decrease in behavior problems in preschool children

Background: Parenting training is a proven strategy for the promotion of positive parenting practices and for the prevention and treatment of behavior problems in children. The processes that explain this efficacy are less clear. The aim of this study was to assess the mediating role of parenting practice modification, encouraged through the implementation of a universal parenting training program, for the decrease of behavior problems in 3- to 6-year-old children. Method: A cluster randomized trial was carried out in 19 educational centers in low and middle socioeconomic areas. A total of 178 families received the program and 154 of them were the control group. The following parenting practices were assessed: positive reinforcement, involvement, inconsistency, unsuitable treatment behaviors and physical punishment, as well as hostility and humiliation behaviors. Parent–child interaction was also assessed using an observational instrument. A multiple mediation analysis was carried out, identifying the indirect effects. Results: Reduction of harsh discipline and physical punishment, and parental inconsistency mediated the effects observed in the reduction of child behavior problems during the program. Conclusion: Within Chilean families, harsh discipline, physical punishment, and parental inconsistency are important aspects to be considered in the implementation of universal parenting training programs

Measurement of the neutron flux at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory with HENSA

We have performed a long-term measurement of the neutron flux with the High Efficiency Neutron Spectrometry Array HENSA in the Hall A of the Canfranc Underground Laboratory. The Hall A measurement campaign lasted from October 2019 to March 2021, demonstrating an excellent stability of the HENSA setup. Preliminary results on the neutron flux from this campaign are presented for the first time. In Phase 1 (113 live days) a total neutron flux of 1.66(2) $\times$10$^{-5}$ cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ is obtained. Our results are in good agreement with those from our previous shorter measurement where a reduced experimental setup was employed.Comment: Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Topics in Astroparticle and Underground Physics (TAUP 2021

Measurement of the 240Pu(n,f) cross-section at the CERN n-TOF facility : First results from experimental area II (EAR-2)

The accurate knowledge of the neutron-induced fission cross-sections of actinides and other isotopes involved in the nuclear fuel cycle is essential for the design of advanced nuclear systems, such as Generation-IV nuclear reactors. Such experimental data can also provide the necessary feedback for the adjustment of nuclear model parameters used in the evaluation process, resulting in the further development of nuclear fission models. In the present work, the 240Pu(n,f) cross-section was measured at CERN's n-TOF facility relative to the well-known 235U(n,f) cross section, over a wide range of neutron energies, from meV to almost MeV, using the time-of-flight technique and a set-up based on Micromegas detectors. This measurement was the first experiment to be performed at n-TOF's new experimental area (EAR-2), which offers a significantly higher neutron flux compared to the already existing experimental area (EAR-1). Preliminary results as well as the experimental procedure, including a description of the facility and the data handling and analysis, are presented

Characterization of the n-TOF EAR-2 neutron beam

The experimental area 2 (EAR-2) at CERNs neutron time-of-flight facility (n-TOF), which is operational since 2014, is designed and built as a short-distance complement to the experimental area 1 (EAR-1). The Parallel Plate Avalanche Counter (PPAC) monitor experiment was performed to characterize the beam prole and the shape of the neutron 'ux at EAR-2. The prompt γ-flash which is used for calibrating the time-of-flight at EAR-1 is not seen by PPAC at EAR-2, shedding light on the physical origin of this γ-flash