Geographical and temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2 clades in the WHO European Region, January to June 2020

We show the distribution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) genetic clades over time and between countries and outline potential genomic surveillance objectives. We applied three genomic nomenclature systems to all sequence data from the World Health Organization European Region available until 10 July 2020. We highlight the importance of real-time sequencing and data dissemination in a pandemic situation, compare the nomenclatures and lay a foundation for future European genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2

Subjective health and psychosomatic complaints of children and adolescents in Germany: Results of the HBSC study 2009/10–2022

Background: Subjective health and well-being are important health indicators in childhood and adolescence. This article shows current results and trends over time between 2009/10 and 2022. Methods: The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study examined subjective health, life satisfaction and psychosomatic complaints of N = 21,788 students aged 11 to 15 years in the school years 2009/10, 2013/14, 2017/18 and in the calendar year 2022. Multivariate regression analyses show the associations between sociodemographic characteristics and well-being in 2022, as well as trends since 2009/10. Results: The majority of children and adolescents indicate a good subjective health and high life satisfaction. About half of the girls and one third of the boys report multiple psychosomatic health complaints, with a clear increase over time. Older adolescents, girls and gender diverse adolescents are at an increased risk of poor well-being. Subjective health and life satisfaction varied between 2009/10 and 2022, with a significant deterioration between 2017/18 and 2022. Conclusions: The high proportion of children and adolescents with psychosomatic complaints, as well as the observed gender and age differences, underline the need for target group-specific prevention, health promotion and continuous health monitoring

New insights into the phylogeny of the dark-spored Myxomycetes (Amoebozoa: Conosa: Myxogastria: Fuscisporidia) and polyphyly of the genus Stemonitis

About a thousand described species of Myxomycetes, colloquially named slime moulds, are present in most terrestrial habitats. Molecular environmental sampling has revealed that a significant proportion of sequences could not be assigned to known species, with some specific groups showing a high hidden diversity. One such group included Stemonitis and allied genera, with only a few closely related reference sequences from known species and many distantly related sequences from environmental sampling. To improve the phylogeny and help define genera in this lineage, we provided nine new small-subunit ribosomal RNA gene sequences of Stemonitis and allied genera, along with microscopy observations. We showed that the genus Stemonitis is polyphyletic, clearly separated into two groups, with the main distinguishing feature being spore ornamentation. The first group included the type species Stemonitis fusca, and was characterized by reticulated spores, while the second contained species with warted spores (e.g. S. flavogenita and S. axifera) and many undetermined environmental sequences. In addition, we show that the related genera Stemonitopsis, Stemonaria and Symphytocarpus were polyphyletic and that their circumscription was based on inconsistent characteristics. Instead, representatives of these genera clustered into the two clades according to their spore ornamentation. Our study provides a first insight into the genetic diversity of Stemonitis and allied genera, and proposes spore ornamentation as an evolutionary informative feature to distinguish genera in this group

Local Field Potential-Guided Contact Selection Using Chronically Implanted Sensing Devices for Deep Brain Stimulation in Parkinson’s Disease

Intra- and perioperatively recorded local field potential (LFP) activity of the nucleus subthalamicus (STN) has been suggested to guide contact selection in patients undergoing deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson’s disease (PD). Despite the invention of sensing capacities in chronically implanted devices, a comprehensible algorithm that enables contact selection using such recordings is still lacking. We evaluated a fully automated algorithm that uses the weighted average of bipolar recordings to determine effective monopolar contacts based on elevated activity in the beta band. LFPs from 14 hemispheres in seven PD patients with newly implanted directional DBS leads of the STN were recorded. First, the algorithm determined the stimulation level with the highest beta activity. Based on the prior determined level, the directional contact with the highest beta activity was chosen in the second step. The mean clinical efficacy of the contacts chosen using the algorithm did not statistically differ from the mean clinical efficacy of standard contact selection as performed in clinical routine. All recording sites were projected into MNI standard space to investigate the feasibility of the algorithm with respect to the anatomical boundaries of the STN. We conclude that the proposed algorithm is a first step towards LFP-based contact selection in STN-DBS for PD using chronically implanted devices

Subjektive Gesundheit und psychosomatische Beschwerden von Kindern und Jugendlichen in Deutschland: Ergebnisse der HBSC-Studie 2009/10 – 2022

Hintergrund: Die subjektive Gesundheit und das Wohlbefinden stellen wichtige Gesundheitsindikatoren im Kindes- und Jugendalter dar. Der vorliegende Beitrag zeigt aktuelle Ergebnisse sowie zeitliche Trends zwischen 2009/10 und 2022. Methode: Die „Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC)“-Studie erfasste in den Schuljahren 2009/10, 2013/14, 2017/18 und im Kalenderjahr 2022 bei N = 21.788 Schülerinnen und Schülern im Alter von 11 bis 15 Jahren deren subjektive Gesundheit, Lebenszufriedenheit und psychosomatische Beschwerden. Multivariate Regressionsanalysen zeigen die Zusammenhänge zwischen soziodemografischen Merkmalen und dem Wohlbefinden für 2022 sowie Trendverläufe seit 2009/10. Ergebnisse: Der Großteil der Kinder und Jugendlichen berichtet eine gute subjektive Gesundheit und eine hohe Lebenszufriedenheit. Etwa die Hälfte der Mädchen und ein Drittel der Jungen berichten multiple psychosomatische Gesundheitsbeschwerden, mit einem deutlichen Anstieg im zeitlichen Verlauf. Ältere Jugendliche, Mädchen und Genderdiverse haben ein erhöhtes Risiko für ein geringes Wohlbefinden. Zwischen 2009/10 und 2022 variierten die subjektive Gesundheit und die Lebenszufriedenheit mit einer deutlichen Verschlechterung von 2017/18 zu 2022. Schlussfolgerungen: Der hohe Anteil von Kindern und Jugendlichen mit psychosomatischen Beschwerden sowie die aufgezeigten Geschlechts- und Altersdiskrepanzen verdeutlichen den Bedarf an zielgruppenspezifischer Prävention, Gesundheitsförderung und einem kontinuierlichen Gesundheitsmonitoring

Low beta-band suppression as a tool for DBS contact selection for akinetic-rigid symptoms in Parkinson's disease

AbstractBackground: Suppression of pathologically altered activity in the beta-band has previously been suggested as a biomarker for feedback-based neurostimulation in subthalamic deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) for Parkinson's Disease (PD).Objective: To assess the utility of beta-band suppression as a tool for contact selection in STN-DBS for PD.Methods: A sample of seven PD patients (13 hemispheres) with newly implanted directional DBS leads of the STN were recorded during a standardized monopolar contact review (MPR). Recordings were received from contact pairs adjacent to the stimulation contact. The degree of beta-band suppression for each investigated contact was then correlated to the respective clinical results. Additionally, we have implemented a cumulative ROC analysis, to test the predictive value of beta-band suppression on the clinical efficacy of the respective contacts.Results: Stimulation ramping led to frequency-specific changes in the beta-band, while lower frequencies remained unaffected. Most importantly, our results showed that the degree of low beta-band suppression from baseline activity (stimulation off) served as a predictor for clinical efficacy of the respective stimulation contact. In contrast suppression of high beta-band activity yielded no predictive power.Conclusion: The degree of low beta-band suppression can serve as a time-saving, objective tool for contact selection in STN-DBS.Keywords: DBS programming; Deep brain stimulation (DBS); Local field potential (LFP); Nucleus subthalamicus (STN)