Marital status and gambling disorder: a longitudinal study based on national registry data

Background: Marital status is a robust correlate of disordered gambling, but few studies have examined the direction of this association. Methods: The present study used a case–control design by including all adults receiving their first gambling disorder (GD) diagnosis between January 2008 to December 2018 (Norwegian Patient Registry, n = 5,121) and compared them against age and gender matched individuals with other somatic/psychiatric illnesses (Norwegian Patient Registry, n = 27,826) and a random sample from the general population (FD-Trygd database, n = 26,695). The study examined marital status before GD, getting divorced as a risk factor for future GD, and becoming married as a protective factor of future GD. Results: The findings indicated an 8–9 percentage points higher prevalence of unmarried people and about a 5 percentage points higher prevalence of separation/divorce among those that subsequently experienced GD compared to controls. Logistic regressions showed that transition through divorce was associated with higher odds of future GD compared to illness controls (odds ratio [OR] = 2.45, 95% CI [2.06, 2.92]) and the general population (OR = 2.41 [2.02, 2.87]). Logistic regressions also showed that transition through marriage was associated with lower odds of future GD compared to illness controls (OR = 0.62, CI [0.55, 0.70]) and the general population (OR = 0.57, CI [0.50, 0.64]). Conclusions: Social bonds have previously been shown to impact physical and mental health, and the findings of the study emphasize the importance of considering social network history and previous relationship dissolution among individuals with GD

Low-smoke chulha in Indian slums: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Background Biomass fuel is used as a primary cooking source by more than half of the world’s population, contributing to a high burden of disease. Although cleaner fuels are available, some households continue using solid fuels because of financial constraints and absence of infrastructure, especially in non-notified slums. The present study documents a randomised controlled study investigating the efficacy of improved cookstove on the personal exposure to air pollution and the respiratory health of women and children in an Indian slum. The improved cookstove was based on co-creation of a low-smoke chulha with local communities in order to support adaption and sustained uptake. Methods The study will be conducted in a non-notified slum called Ashrayanagar in Bangalore, India. The study design will be a 1:1 randomised controlled intervention trial, including 250 households. The intervention group will receive an improved cookstove (low-smoke chulha) and the control group will continue using either the traditional cookstove (chulha) or a combination of the traditional stove and the kerosene/diesel stove. Follow-up time is 1 year. Outcomes include change in lung function (FEV1/FVC), incidence of pneumonia, change in personal PM2.5 and CO exposure, incidence of respiratory symptoms (cough, phlegm, wheeze and shortness of breath), prevalence of other related symptoms (headache and burning eyes), change in behaviour and adoption of the stove. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Institutional Ethics Committee of the Indian Institute of Public Health Hyderabad- Bengaluru Campus. Discussion The findings from this study aim to provide insight into the effects of improved cookstoves in urban slums. Results can give evidence for the decrease of indoor air pollution and the improvement of respiratory health for children and women. Trial registration The trial was registered with clinicaltrials.gov on 21 June 2016 with the identifier NCT02821650; A Study to Test the Impact of an Improved Chulha on the Respiratory Health of Women and Children in Indian Slums

Self-rated health among Mayan women participating in a randomised intervention trial reducing indoor air pollution in Guatemala

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Indoor air pollution (IAP) from solid fuels is a serious health problem in low-income countries that can be alleviated using improved stoves. Although women are the principal users, few studies have investigated the self-assessed impact of the stoves on their health and lives.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study was conducted in rural highland Guatemala, involving 89 intervention and 80 control Mayan Indian young women (mean 27.8 years, SD 7.2). Outcomes were assessed after approximately 18 months use of the new stove. Our objectives were to compare self-rated health and change in health among women participating in a randomised control trial comparing a chimney stove with an open fire, to describe impacts on women's daily lives and their perceptions of how reduced kitchen smoke affects their own and their children's health.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>On intention-to-treat analysis, 52.8% of intervention women reported improvement in health, compared to 23.8% of control women (p < 0.001). Among 84 intervention women who reported reduced kitchen smoke as an important change, 88% linked this to improvement in their own health, particularly for non-respiratory symptoms (for example eye discomfort, headache); 57% linked reduced smoke to improvement in their children's health, particularly sore eyes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Women's perception of their health was improved, but although smoke reduction was valued, this was linked mainly with alleviation of non-respiratory symptoms like eye discomfort and headache. More focus on such symptoms may help in promoting demand for improved stoves and cleaner fuels, but education about more severe consequences of IAP exposure is also required.</p

Content Validity of the Geriatric Depression Scale in Inpatient Health Care Settings

The content validity of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) for use in inpatient health care settings was evaluated. Clinical experience has shown that one or more questions may not be appropriate in such settings. These questions ask about behaviors or feelings with which the examinee may not be able to identify with because they have been in an inpatient setting during the past week. Twenty-five Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) evaluated the GDS-30 as to whether each item appropriately assesses the construct of depression for inpatients in a medical care setting. SMEs were identified by an online search of the Florida Division of Medical Quality Assurance database; inclusion criteria are presented. Nineteen SMEs held a Ph.D. and six held a Psy.D. Years of post-licensure practice experience ranged from 10 to 48 years with a mean of 23.12 years (SD = 10.07). Using the Content Validity Ratio, four questions emerged as inappropriate (statistically significant at, or below, an alpha level of .025). The lack of content validity of these questions necessitates their omission when psychometrically assessing depression in elderly inpatients. Recommended revised cutoff values are presented. Utilizing the recommended modification to the GDS presented here should reduce false positives when psychometrically assessing depression in elderly inpatients

Allergic rhinitis in northern vietnam: increased risk of urban living according to a large population survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Little is known about prevalence and risk factors of allergic rhinitis and chronic nasal symptoms among adults in Vietnam. We aimed to estimate the prevalence, risk factor patterns and co-morbidities of allergic rhinitis and chronic nasal symptoms in one urban and one rural area in northern Vietnam.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted from August 2007 to January 2008 in urban Hoankiem and rural Bavi in Hanoi among adults aged 21-70 years. Of 7008 randomly selected subjects, 91.7% participated in Bavi and 70.3% in Hoankiem.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Allergic rhinitis ever or chronic nasal symptoms were reported by 50.2%. The prevalence of allergic rhinitis ever was considerably higher in Hoankiem compared to Bavi, 29.6% vs 10.0% (p < 0.001). Allergic rhinitis ever and chronic nasal symptoms were both significantly associated with asthma and respiratory symptoms, respectively (p < 0.001). Exposure to gas, dust or fumes at work was significantly associated with allergic rhinitis ever, OR 1.57 (95% CI 1.34 - 1.84), nasal blocking, OR 1.90 (95% CI 1.68 - 2.15) and runny nose, OR 1.32 (95% CI 1.17 - 1.49), while somewhat surprisingly no association with smoking was found. Female sex was a significant risk factor for both nasal blocking and runny nose.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Allergic rhinitis ever was considerably more common in the urban area. Nasal blocking and runny nose was each reported by about one third of the studied sample with no major urban-rural difference. Further, exposure to air pollution at work was significantly associated with allergic rhinitis ever, nasal blocking and runny nose.</p

BAC array CGH in patients with Velocardiofacial syndrome-like features reveals genomic aberrations on chromosome region 1q21.1

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Microdeletion of the chromosome 22q11.2 region is the most common genetic aberration among patients with velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS) but a subset of subjects do not show alterations of this chromosome region.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We analyzed 18 patients with VCFS-like features by comparative genomic hybridisation (aCGH) array and performed a face-to-face slide hybridization with two different arrays: a whole genome and a chromosome 22-specific BAC array. Putative rearrangements were confirmed by FISH and MLPA assays.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>One patient carried a combination of rearrangements on 1q21.1, consisting in a microduplication of 212 kb and a close microdeletion of 1.15 Mb, previously reported in patients with variable phenotypes, including mental retardation, congenital heart defects (CHD) and schizophrenia. While 326 control samples were negative for both 1q21.1 rearrangements, one of 73 patients carried the same 212-kb microduplication, reciprocal to TAR microdeletion syndrome. Also, we detected four copy number variants (CNVs) inherited from one parent (a 744-kb duplication on 10q11.22; a 160 kb duplication and deletion on 22q11.21 in two cases; and a gain of 140 kb on 22q13.2), not present in control subjects, raising the potential role of these CNVs in the VCFS-like phenotype.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results confirmed aCGH as a successful strategy in order to characterize additional submicroscopic aberrations in patients with VCF-like features that fail to show alterations in 22q11.2 region. We report a 212-kb microduplication on 1q21.1, detected in two patients, which may contribute to CHD.</p

Transcriptional Responses of Cultured Rat Sympathetic Neurons during BMP-7-Induced Dendritic Growth

Dendrites are the primary site of synapse formation in the vertebrate nervous system; however, relatively little is known about the molecular mechanisms that regulate the initial formation of primary dendrites. Embryonic rat sympathetic neurons cultured under defined conditions extend a single functional axon, but fail to form dendrites. Addition of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) triggers these neurons to extend multiple dendrites without altering axonal growth or cell survival. We used this culture system to examine differential gene expression patterns in naïve vs. BMP-treated sympathetic neurons in order to identify candidate genes involved in regulation of primary dendritogenesis.To determine the critical transcriptional window during BMP-induced dendritic growth, morphometric analysis of microtubule-associated protein (MAP-2)-immunopositive processes was used to quantify dendritic growth in cultures exposed to the transcription inhibitor actinomycin-D added at varying times after addition of BMP-7. BMP-7-induced dendritic growth was blocked when transcription was inhibited within the first 24 hr after adding exogenous BMP-7. Thus, total RNA was isolated from sympathetic neurons exposed to three different experimental conditions: (1) no BMP-7 treatment; (2) treatment with BMP-7 for 6 hr; and (3) treatment with BMP-7 for 24 hr. Affymetrix oligonucleotide microarrays were used to identify differential gene expression under these three culture conditions. BMP-7 significantly regulated 56 unique genes at 6 hr and 185 unique genes at 24 hr. Bioinformatic analyses implicate both established and novel genes and signaling pathways in primary dendritogenesis.This study provides a unique dataset that will be useful in generating testable hypotheses regarding transcriptional control of the initial stages of dendritic growth. Since BMPs selectively promote dendritic growth in central neurons as well, these findings may be generally applicable to dendritic growth in other neuronal cell types

Writing impact case studies: a comparative study of high-scoring and low-scoring case studies from REF2014

This paper reports on two studies that used qualitative thematic and quantitative linguistic analysis, respectively, to assess the content and language of the largest ever sample of graded research impact case studies, from the UK Research Excellence Framework 2014 (REF). The paper provides the first empirical evidence across disciplinary main panels of statistically significant linguistic differences between high- versus low-scoring case studies, suggesting that implicit rules linked to written style may have contributed to scores alongside the published criteria on the significance, reach and attribution of impact. High-scoring case studies were more likely to provide specific and high-magnitude articulations of significance and reach than low-scoring cases. High-scoring case studies contained attributional phrases which were more likely to attribute research and/or pathways to impact, and they were written more coherently (containing more explicit causal connections between ideas and more logical connectives) than low-scoring cases. High-scoring case studies appear to have conformed to a distinctive new genre of writing, which was clear and direct, and often simplified in its representation of causality between research and impact, and less likely to contain expressions of uncertainty than typically associated with academic writing. High-scoring case studies in two Main Panels were significantly easier to read than low-scoring cases on the Flesch Reading Ease measure, although both high-scoring and low-scoring cases tended to be of “graduate” reading difficulty. The findings of our work enable impact case study authors to better understand the genre and make content and language choices that communicate their impact as effectively as possible. While directly relevant to the assessment of impact in the UK’s Research Excellence Framework, the work also provides insights of relevance to institutions internationally who are designing evaluation frameworks for research impact