Collaborative International Research in Clinical and Longitudinal Experience Study in NMOSD

OBJECTIVE: To develop a resource of systematically collected, longitudinal clinical data and biospecimens for assisting in the investigation into neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) epidemiology, pathogenesis, and treatment. METHODS: To illustrate its research-enabling purpose, epidemiologic patterns and disease phenotypes were assessed among enrolled subjects, including age at disease onset, annualized relapse rate (ARR), and time between the first and second attacks. RESULTS: As of December 2017, the Collaborative International Research in Clinical and Longitudinal Experience Study (CIRCLES) had enrolled more than 1,000 participants, of whom 77.5% of the NMOSD cases and 71.7% of the controls continue in active follow-up. Consanguineous relatives of patients with NMOSD represented 43.6% of the control cohort. Of the 599 active cases with complete data, 84% were female, and 76% were anti-AQP4 seropositive. The majority were white/Caucasian (52.6%), whereas blacks/African Americans accounted for 23.5%, Hispanics/Latinos 12.4%, and Asians accounted for 9.0%. The median age at disease onset was 38.4 years, with a median ARR of 0.5. Seropositive cases were older at disease onset, more likely to be black/African American or Hispanic/Latino, and more likely to be female. CONCLUSION: Collectively, the CIRCLES experience to date demonstrates this study to be a useful and readily accessible resource to facilitate accelerating solutions for patients with NMOSD

Collaborative International Research in Clinical and Longitudinal Experience Study in NMOSD.

Objective: To develop a resource of systematically collected, longitudinal clinical data and biospecimens for assisting in the investigation into neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) epidemiology, pathogenesis, and treatment. Methods: To illustrate its research-enabling purpose, epidemiologic patterns and disease phenotypes were assessed among enrolled subjects, including age at disease onset, annualized relapse rate (ARR), and time between the first and second attacks. Results: As of December 2017, the Collaborative International Research in Clinical and Longitudinal Experience Study (CIRCLES) had enrolled more than 1,000 participants, of whom 77.5% of the NMOSD cases and 71.7% of the controls continue in active follow-up. Consanguineous relatives of patients with NMOSD represented 43.6% of the control cohort. Of the 599 active cases with complete data, 84% were female, and 76% were anti-AQP4 seropositive. The majority were white/Caucasian (52.6%), whereas blacks/African Americans accounted for 23.5%, Hispanics/Latinos 12.4%, and Asians accounted for 9.0%. The median age at disease onset was 38.4 years, with a median ARR of 0.5. Seropositive cases were older at disease onset, more likely to be black/African American or Hispanic/Latino, and more likely to be female. Conclusions: Collectively, the CIRCLES experience to date demonstrates this study to be a useful and readily accessible resource to facilitate accelerating solutions for patients with NMOSD

Narcissism: a factor behind the selective sharing of news online

The current study examined the extent to which narcissism influences the social network users’ intention to share positive and negative life events with (close or unknown) online contacts. Using an online survey, small vignettes and a cross-sectional convenience sample of 119 participants, the results showed that narcissism positively predicted sharing intention of positive and negative life events with strangers. However, individuals rating higher in narcissism were less likely to share negative news with family. The research findings suggest that personality traits such as narcissism, the type of contacts online, and the nature of the news may shape what information is shared by online users. The type of news presented may therefore be a function of who is posting the content, their personality, and the kind of social network contacts they have online

Water-Resources Investigations Report 81-83

From introduction: This report describes the quality of the waters and the potential water-quality impacts of redesigning a levee that surrounds the city of Chaska, in Carver County, Minn

Antiepileptic drug pregnancy registries: do the latest findings concur?

The risk of antiepileptic drug (AED) exposure to the developing fetus is of global concern. Every year, 25,000 children are born to women with epilepsy (WWE) in the USA alone. Most pregnant WWE require AEDs and, therefore, scientifically derived evidence from large studies is essential to help determine the best management. AED pregnancy registries were initiated in the early 1990s to assess pregnancy outcomes in WWE, with the aims of obtaining accurate information about AED-related teratogenesis and evaluating the risks of the newer AEDs in a timely manner. The registries have had varied methodologies, which has been, in part, dictated by the healthcare system in which they are used. Countries with nationalized healthcare systems permit population-based data gathering, whereas in areas where medical care is privatized, a more focused prospective approach is taken. Furthermore, pharmaceutical companies have supported several registries aimed at determining the risk of exposure to a single compound. Therefore, each registry has different rules for enrollment, inclusion/exclusion criteria, length and detail of follow-up, and predetermined publication criteria. Owing to these differences and because a few subjects enroll in more than one registry, the registries do not lend themselves to a meta-analytic approach. This article will summarize the major concurrent and differing findings of the current registries from the perspective of their direct impact on managing WWE during pregnancy. We will discuss registries based in the USA, UK, Australia, Finland, Sweden and from the European and International Registry of AEDs in Pregnancy (EURAP)

Effect of urban runoff on the quality of lakes in Eagan, Minnesota /

Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-64).Mode of access: Internet