Tele-neuropsychological Assessment of Children and Young People: A Systematic Review

The coronavirus pandemic identified a clinical need for pediatric tele-neuropsychology (TeleNP) assessment. However, due to limited research, clinicians have had little information to develop, adapt, or select reliable pediatric assessments for TeleNP. This preliminary systematic review aimed to examine the feasibility of pediatric TeleNP assessment alongside (1) patient/family acceptability, (2) reliability, and (3) the quality of the literature. Between May 2021 and November 2022, manual searches of PubMed, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar were conducted using terms related to “pediatric” and “tele-neuropsychology.” After extracting relevant papers with samples aged 0–22 years, predefined exclusion criteria were applied. Quality assessment was completed using the AXIS appraisal tool (91% rater-agreement). Twenty-one studies were included in the review, with reported qualitative and quantitative data on the feasibility, reliability, and acceptability extracted. Across included studies, TeleNP was completed via telephone/video conference with participants either at home, in a local setting accompanied by an assistant, or in a different room but in the same building as the assessor. Pediatric TeleNP was generally reported to be feasible (e.g., minimal behavioral differences) and acceptable (e.g., positive feedback). Nineteen studies conducted some statistical analyses to assess reliability. Most observed no significant difference between in-person and TeleNP for most cognitive domains (i.e., IQ), with a minority finding variable reliability for some tests (e.g., attention, speech, visuo-spatial). Limited reporting of sex-assigned birth, racialized identity, and ethnicity reduced the quality and generalizability of the literature. To aid clinical interpretations, studies should assess underexamined cognitive domains (e.g., processing speed) with larger, more inclusive samples

Mesoscale variability in intact and ghost colonies of Phaeocystis antarctica in the Ross Sea : distribution and abundance

© The Author(s), 2016. This is the author's version of the work and is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Journal of Marine Systems 166 (2017): 97-107, doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2016.05.007.Phaeocystis, a genus with a cosmopolitan distribution and a polymorphic life cycle, was observed during summer in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, where large blooms of this haptophyte regularly occur. The mesoscale vertical and horizontal distributions of colonies of P. antarctica were assessed using a towed Video Plankton Recorder (VPR). The mean size of colonies was 1.20 mm, and mean abundances within the three VPR surveys were 4.86, 1.96, and 11.5 mL-1. In addition to the typical spherical, transparent colonies, the VPR quantified an optically dissimilar form of colony that had a distinctive translucent appearance. It also measured the abundance of collapsed colonies, similar to those observed previously from cultures and mesocosms, which we called “ghost colonies”. The translucent colonial form had a different distribution than the more common colonial form, and at times was more abundant. Relative to intact colonies, the ghost colonies occurred less frequently, with mean abundances in the three surveys being 0.01, 0.08, and 0.0004 mL-1. Ghost colonies generally were found below the euphotic zone, where they often were in greater abundance than intact colonies. However, the relationship of ghost colonies to intact P. antarctica colonies was not direct or consistent, suggesting that the formation of ghost colonies from living colonies and their appearance within the water column were not tightly coupled. Given their relative scarcity and low carbon content, it is unlikely that ghost colonies contribute substantially to vertical flux; however, it is possible that we did not sample periods of major flux events, and as a result minimized the importance of ghost colonies to vertical flux. They do, however, represent a poorly documented feature of polar haptophyte life cycles.This research was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (ANT-0944254 and ANT-0944165). HMS and EEP acknowledge support of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (Grant #2649) for image informatics development.2018-06-0

Profiling Human Antibody Responses by Integrated Single-Cell Analysis

Comprehensive characterization of the antigen-specific B cells induced during infections or following vaccination would facilitate the discovery of novel antibodies and inform how interventions shape protective humoral responses. The analysis of human B cells and their antibodies has been performed using flow cytometry to evaluate memory B cells and expanded plasmablasts, while microtechnologies have also provided a useful tool to examine plasmablasts/plasma cells after vaccination. Here we present an integrated analytical platform, using arrays of subnanoliter wells (nanowells), for constructing detailed profiles for human B cells comprising the immunophenotypes of these cells, the distribution of isotypes of the secreted antibodies, the specificity and relative affinity for defined antigens, and for a subset of cells, the genes encoding the heavy and light chains. The approach combines on-chip image cytometry, microengraving, and single-cell RT-PCR. Using clinical samples from HIV-infected subjects, we demonstrate that the method can identify antigen-specific neutralizing antibodies, is compatible with both plasmablasts/plasma cells and activated memory B cells, and is well-suited for characterizing the limited numbers of B cells isolated from tissue biopsies (e.g., colon biopsies). The technology should facilitate detailed analyses of human humoral responses for evaluating vaccines and their ability to raise protective antibody responses across multiple anatomical compartments

Smoking in Systemic Sclerosis: a Longitudinal European Scleroderma Trials and Research Group Study

Data on the role of tobacco exposure in systemic sclerosis (SSc) severity and progression are scarce. We aimed to assess the effects of smoking on the evolution of pulmonary and skin manifestations in the EUSTAR database

Early impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and physical distancing measures on routine childhood vaccinations in England, January to April 2020.

Using electronic health records, we assessed the early impact of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on routine childhood vaccination in England by 26 April 2020. Measles-mumps-rubella vaccination counts fell from February 2020, and in the 3 weeks after introduction of physical distancing measures were 19.8% lower (95% confidence interval: -20.7 to -18.9) than the same period in 2019, before improving in mid-April. A gradual decline in hexavalent vaccination counts throughout 2020 was not accentuated by physical distancing

Incarceration history and risk of HIV and hepatitis C virus acquisition among people who inject drugs: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background People who inject drugs (PWID) experience a high prevalence of incarceration and might be at high risk of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection during or after incarceration. We aimed to assess whether incarceration history elevates HIV or HCV acquisition risk among PWID. Methods In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO databases for studies in any language published from Jan 1, 2000 until June 13, 2017 assessing HIV or HCV incidence among PWID. We included studies that measured HIV or HCV incidence among community-recruited PWID. We included only studies reporting original results and excluded studies that evaluated incident infections by self-report. We contacted authors of cohort studies that met the inclusion or exclusion criteria, but that did not report on the outcomes of interest, to request data. We extracted and pooled data from the included studies using random-effects meta-analyses to quantify the associations between recent (past 3, 6, or 12 months or since last follow-up) or past incarceration and HIV or HCV acquisition (primary infection or reinfection) risk among PWID. We assessed the risk of bias of included studies using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Between-study heterogeneity was evaluated using the I2 statistic and the P-value for heterogeneity. Findings We included published results from 20 studies and unpublished results from 21 studies. These studies originated from Australasia, western and eastern Europe, North and Latin America, and east and southeast Asia. Recent incarceration was associated with an 81% (relative risk [RR] 1·81, 95% CI 1·40–2·34) increase in HIV acquisition risk, with moderate heterogeneity between studies (I2=63·5%; p=0·001), and a 62% (RR 1·62, 95% CI 1·28–2·05) increase in HCV acquisition risk, also with moderate heterogeneity between studies (I2=57·3%; p=0·002). Past incarceration was associated with a 25% increase in HIV (RR 1·25, 95% CI 0·94–1·65) and a 21% increase in HCV (1·21, 1·02–1·43) acquisition risk. Interpretation Incarceration is associated with substantial short-term increases in HIV and HCV acquisition risk among PWID and could be a significant driver of HCV and HIV transmission among PWID. These findings support the need for developing novel interventions to minimise the risk of HCV and HIV acquisition, including addressing structural risks associated with drug laws and excessive incarceration of PWID

Early impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing measures on routine childhood vaccinations in England, January to April 2020.

Electronic health records were used to assess the early impact of COVID-19 on routine childhood vaccination in England to 26 April 2020. MMR vaccination counts fell from February 2020, and in the three weeks after introduction of social distancing measures were 19.8% lower (95% CI −20.7 to −18.9%) than the same period in 2019, before improving in mid-April. A gradual decline in hexavalent vaccination counts throughout 2020 was not accentuated on introduction of social distancing

sPlotOpen – An environmentally balanced, open-access, global dataset of vegetation plots

Assessing biodiversity status and trends in plant communities is critical for understanding, quantifying and predicting the effects of global change on ecosystems. Vegetation plots record the occurrence or abundance of all plant species co-occurring within delimited local areas. This allows species absences to be inferred, information seldom provided by existing global plant datasets. Although many vegetation plots have been recorded, most are not available to the global research community. A recent initiative, called ?sPlot?, compiled the first global vegetation plot database, and continues to grow and curate it. The sPlot database, however, is extremely unbalanced spatially and environmentally, and is not open-access. Here, we address both these issues by (a) resampling the vegetation plots using several environmental variables as sampling strata and (b) securing permission from data holders of 105 local-to-regional datasets to openly release data. We thus present sPlotOpen, the largest open-access dataset of vegetation plots ever released. sPlotOpen can be used to explore global diversity at the plant community level, as ground truth data in remote sensing applications, or as a baseline for biodiversity monitoring. Main types of variable contained: Vegetation plots (n = 95,104) recording cover or abundance of naturally co-occurring vascular plant species within delimited areas. sPlotOpen contains three partially overlapping resampled datasets (c. 50,000 plots each), to be used as replicates in global analyses. Besides geographical location, date, plot size, biome, elevation, slope, aspect, vegetation type, naturalness, coverage of various vegetation layers, and source dataset, plot-level data also include community-weighted means and variances of 18 plant functional traits from the TRY Plant Trait Database. Spatial location and grain: Global, 0.01?40,000 m². Time period and grain: 1888-2015, recording dates. Major taxa and level of measurement: 42,677 vascular plant taxa, plot-level records.Fil: Sabatini, Francesco Maria. Martin-universität Halle-wittenberg; Alemania. German Centre For Integrative Biodiversity Research (idiv) Halle-jena-leipzig; AlemaniaFil: Lenoir, Jonathan. Université de Picardie Jules Verne; FranciaFil: Hattab, Tarek. Université de Montpellier; FranciaFil: Arnst, Elise Aimee. Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research; Nueva ZelandaFil: Chytrý, Milan. Masaryk University; República ChecaFil: Giorgis, Melisa Adriana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Vanselow, Kim André. University of Erlangen-Nuremberg; AlemaniaFil: Vásquez Martínez, Rodolfo. Jardín Botánico de Missouri Oxapampa; PerúFil: Vassilev, Kiril. Bulgarian Academy of Sciences; BulgariaFil: Vélez-Martin, Eduardo. ILEX Consultoria Científica; BrasilFil: Venanzoni, Roberto. University of Perugia; ItaliaFil: Vibrans, Alexander Christian. Universidade Regional de Blumenau; BrasilFil: Violle, Cyrille. Paul Valéry Montpellier University; FranciaFil: Virtanen, Risto. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research; AlemaniaFil: von Wehrden, Henrik. Leuphana University of Lüneburg; AlemaniaFil: Wagner, Viktoria. University of Alberta; CanadáFil: Walker, Donald A.. University of Alaska; Estados UnidosFil: Waller, Donald M.. University of Wisconsin-Madison; Estados UnidosFil: Wang, Hua-Feng. Hainan University; ChinaFil: Wesche, Karsten. Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Görlitz; Alemania. Technische Universität Dresden; AlemaniaFil: Whitfeld, Timothy J. S.. University of Minnesota; Estados UnidosFil: Willner, Wolfgang. University of Vienna; AustriaFil: Wiser, Susan K.. Manaaki Whenua. Landcare Research; Nueva ZelandaFil: Wohlgemuth, Thomas. Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research; SuizaFil: Yamalov, Sergey. Russian Academy of Sciences; RusiaFil: Zobel, Martin. University of Tartu; EstoniaFil: Bruelheide, Helge. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research; Alemani