Toward a behavioural phenotype for Sotos syndrome

This volume is the research component and contains three papers. The first paper is a review of the literature from 1980 to the present day, which has examined intellectual, behavioural and psychological characteristics in participants with Sotos syndrome. The second paper is an empirical study which examines the behavioural phenotype of participants with Sotos syndrome in comparison to 3 other genetic syndromes using standardised, well validated questionnaires. The third paper summarises these in language accessible to the general public

Khipus, khipu boards and sacred texts : toward a philology of Andean knotted cords

This research was funded by the National Geographic Society, the Leverhulme Trust, the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, and the University of St. Andrews.Although the knotted cord texts known as khipus have been created in the Andes for over a millennium (ca. AD 950–1950), their historical philology has been little understood. This study, based on original archival and ethnographic research, analyzes hybrid khipu/alphabetic texts known as “khipu boards,” examining their development in colonial Peru, and their role in twentieth-century Andean rituals. Particular attention is paid to a previously unknown sacred manuscript, the Entablo, from the community of San Pedro de Casta, Peru, which describes how villagers used khipu boards in their annual religious ceremonies until the 1950s. This study reveals new insights into the social and symbolic nature of post-Inka khipus as texts, particularly with reference to gender, place, and knowledge.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

A case report of vanishing bile duct syndrome after exposure to pexidartinib (PLX3397) and paclitaxel.

Pexidartinib (PLX3397) is a small molecule tyrosine kinase and colony-stimulating factor-1 inhibitor with FDA breakthrough therapy designation for tenosynovial giant-cell tumor, and currently under study in several other tumor types, including breast cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and glioblastoma. Here, we report a case of severe drug-induced liver injury requiring liver transplantation due to vanishing bile duct syndrome (VBDS) after exposure to pexidartinib in the I-SPY 2 Trial, a phase 2 multicenter randomized neoadjuvant chemotherapy trial in patients with Stage II-III breast cancer. We also review the current literature on this rare, idiosyncratic, and potentially life-threatening entity

Inexact Solves in Interpolatory Model Reduction

We investigate the use of inexact solves for interpolatory model reduction and consider associated perturbation effects on the underlying model reduction problem. We give bounds on system perturbations induced by inexact solves and relate this to termination criteria for iterative solution methods. We show that when a Petrov-Galerkin framework is employed for the inexact solves, the associated reduced order model is an exact interpolatory model for a nearby full-order system; thus demonstrating backward stability. We also give evidence that for \h2-optimal interpolation points, interpolatory model reduction is robust with respect to perturbations due to inexact solves. Finally, we demonstrate the effecitveness of direct use of inexact solves in optimal ${\mathcal H}_2$ approximation. The result is an effective model reduction strategy that is applicable in realistically large-scale settings.Comment: 42 pages, 5 figure

Perceived manageability of debt and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A UK population analysis

Objectives: This study examined the association between perceived manageability of debt and risk of depression, anxiety, and mental health help-seeking among a nationally representative sample of adults living in the United Kingdom (UK). Methods: Data was derived from the COVID-19 Psychological Research Consortium (C19PRC) Study Wave 6 (August/September 2021) which examined the psychological, social, and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the UK adult population. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the association between different levels of perceived debt manageability (i.e., “easily manageable”, “some problems”, “quite serious problems”, “very serious problems”, “cannot manage at all”) and mental health related outcomes. Results: Almost a quarter of the sample (24%, n = 494) reported debt management problems, and debt manageability associated with higher levels of anxiety, depression, and mental health help-seeking. After adjusting for demographic variables (e.g. income, receipt of benefits), logistic regression analysis demonstrated a dose-response association between increasing levels of debt manageability problems and mental health outcomes. Specifically, adjusted odds ratios for anxiety ranged from 2.28 (‘some problems’) to 11.18 (‘very serious problems’), for depression ranged from 2.80 (‘some problems’) to 16.21 (‘cannot manage at all’), and for mental health help-seeking ranged from 1.69 (‘some problems’) to 3.18 (‘quite serious problems’, ‘very serious problems’). Conclusion: This study highlights that debt manageability problems represent a robust predictor of depression, anxiety, and mental-health help seeking

Symptoms and levels of ICD-11 Prolonged Grief Disorder in a representative community sample of UK adults.

BackgroundProlonged Grief Disorder (PGD) is a new disorder included in ICD-11 (WHO, 2018). There is a growing body of literature surrounding the prevalence and correlates of ICD-11 PGD symptoms as assessed using various measures. This study was the first to assess levels of ICD-11 PGD symptoms as measured by the International Prolonged Grief Disorder Scale (IPGDS), a self-report scale directly aligned with the ICD-11 definition of PGD, among the United Kingdom adult general population, and identify correlates.MethodParticipants included 2025 adults who participated in Wave 5 of the COVID-19 Psychological Research Consortium Study (C19PRC-UK). Prevalence rates of PGD were estimated based on two commonly used algorithms defined as 'strict' and 'moderate'. Sociodemographic, loss-related, and mental health correlates (i.e., anxiety, depression, mental health treatment seeking, loneliness) of strict and moderate PGD were then examined using multinomial logistic regressions.ResultsIt was found that 2.4% (n = 43) of participants met probable caseness for PGD using the strict criteria while 7.9% (n = 140) met probable caseness for PGD using the moderate criteria. Multinomial logistic regression analysis results showed, as predicted, that income, time since bereavement, death of a child, religiosity, and depression were associated with both moderate and strict PGD. Correlates of moderate PGD included country of residence, urbanicity, younger age of bereaved, and loneliness.ConclusionsThis study highlights that some symptoms of PGD are commonly reported in the general population, although relatively few meet the criteria for clinical significance. The routine assessment for PGD following a bereavement is discussed and the development of appropriate interventions are recommended

High resolution melting for mutation scanning of TP53 exons 5-8.

BACKGROUND: p53 is commonly inactivated by mutations in the DNA-binding domain in a wide range of cancers. As mutant p53 often influences response to therapy, effective and rapid methods to scan for mutations in TP53 are likely to be of clinical value. We therefore evaluated the use of high resolution melting (HRM) as a rapid mutation scanning tool for TP53 in tumour samples. METHODS: We designed PCR amplicons for HRM mutation scanning of TP53 exons 5 to 8 and tested them with DNA from cell lines hemizygous or homozygous for known mutations. We assessed the sensitivity of each PCR amplicon using dilutions of cell line DNA in normal wild-type DNA. We then performed a blinded assessment on ovarian tumour DNA samples that had been previously sequenced for mutations in TP53 to assess the sensitivity and positive predictive value of the HRM technique. We also performed HRM analysis on breast tumour DNA samples with unknown TP53 mutation status. RESULTS: One cell line mutation was not readily observed when exon 5 was amplified. As exon 5 contained multiple melting domains, we divided the exon into two amplicons for further screening. Sequence changes were also introduced into some of the primers to improve the melting characteristics of the amplicon. Aberrant HRM curves indicative of TP53 mutations were observed for each of the samples in the ovarian tumour DNA panel. Comparison of the HRM results with the sequencing results revealed that each mutation was detected by HRM in the correct exon. For the breast tumour panel, we detected seven aberrant melt profiles by HRM and subsequent sequencing confirmed the presence of these and no other mutations in the predicted exons. CONCLUSION: HRM is an effective technique for simple and rapid scanning of TP53 mutations that can markedly reduce the amount of sequencing required in mutational studies of TP53.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

The development and initial validation of self-report measures of ICD-11 depressive episode and generalized anxiety disorder: The International Depression Questionnaire (IDQ) and the International Anxiety Questionnaire (IAQ)

BackgroundThe new International Classification of Diseases came into effect in 2022 (ICD-11; World Health Organization, 2022) and included updated descriptions and diagnostic rules for “Depressive Episode” and “Generalized Anxiety Disorder.” No self-report measures align with these disorders so this study reports the development and initial validation of the “International Depression Questionnaire” (IDQ) and “International Anxiety Questionnaire” (IAQ).MethodsItems were developed that aligned to the ICD-11 descriptions and their performance was assessed using data from a community sample (N = 2058) that was representative of the United Kingdom adult population.ResultsItem response theory models indicated that the two scales were unidimensional, and the items performed well in terms of difficulty and discrimination. Estimates of internal reliability were high. Based on ICD-11 derived diagnostic algorithms, 7.4% met requirements for ICD-11 Depressive Episode and 7.1% for Generalized Anxiety Disorder.ConclusionsThe IDQ and the IAQ are short, easy to use, self-report measures aligned to the new and updated ICD-11 diagnostic descriptions. This study provides initial evidence that the scales produce scores that are reliable and valid