The timing of maternal depressive symptoms and child cognitive development: a longitudinal study.

Background: Maternal depression is known to be associated with impairments in child cognitive development, although the effect of timing of exposure to maternal depression is unclear. Methods: Data collected for the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a longitudinal study beginning in pregnancy, included self-report measures of maternal depression the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, completed on 6 occasions up to 3 years of age, and IQ of the index child (WISC) measured at aged 8 years. We used these data to assign women to 8 groups according to whether depression occurred in the antenatal, postnatal, preschool period, any combination of these times, or not at all. We compared a model comprising all patterns of depression (saturated model) with models nested within this to test whether there is a relationship between depression and child cognitive development and, if so, whether there is a sensitive period. We then investigated the relationship with child IQ for each model, following adjustment for confounders. Results: Six thousand seven hundred and thirty-five of 13,615 children from singleton births (49.5%, of eligible core sample) attended a research clinic at 8 years and completed a WISC with a score ≥ 70. A total of 5,029 mothers of these children had completed mood assessments over the 3 time periods. In unadjusted analyses, all three sensitive period models were as good as the saturated model, as was an accumulation model. Of the sensitive period models, only that for antenatal exposure was a consistently better fit than the accumulation model. After multiple imputation for missing data (to n = 6,735), there was no effect of postnatal depression on child IQ independent of depression at other times [-0.19 IQ points, 95% confidence interval (CI) -1.5 to 1.1 points]. There was an effect of antenatal depression (-3.19 IQ points, 95% CI: -4.33 to -2.06) which attenuated following adjustment (-0.64 IQ points, 95% CI: -1.68 to 0.40). Conclusions: The postnatal period is not a sensitive one for the effect of maternal depression on child cognitive development. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry

Uptake and Accumulation of Pharmaceuticals and Hormones in Vegetables after Irrigation with Reuse Water

The widespread occurrence of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) and steroid hormones in watersheds has been recognized as an emerging environmental issue. The potential uptake and accumulation of these emerging contaminants by food plants that are irrigated with contaminated water could be a food safety issue. In the present project, uptake, translocation, accumulation, and depuration of seven PPCPs and three steroid hormones in lettuce and tomato plants were investigated using hydroponic cultures with compound concentrations of 0.5, 50, or 500 μg L-1 and several exposure scenarios. An isotopic dilution method was developed for the analysis of trace levels of PPCPs and hormones in food plants using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), combined with ultrasonication-shaking extraction and solid phase extraction (SPE) cleanup. For lettuce plants, all targeted PPCPs and hormones were detected in the roots. The bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) of PPCPs and hormones in lettuce roots were more than 1, indicating these emerging contaminants can be bound to or taken up by the plant roots. In lettuce leaves, only caffeine (CAF), carbamazepine (CBZ), and sulfamethoxazole (SMO) showed very high BAF values compared to other targeted PPCPs and hormones, indicating that these three compounds can easily translocate from lettuce roots to leaves and thereby accumulate in plant leaves. For tomato plants, all PPCPs and hormones were detected in the roots. By contrast, the translocation factor (TF) values of all targeted compounds except CAF and CBZ were very small in tomato plants, implying their poor translocation from roots to above-ground plant parts following uptake. The BAFs of all targeted hormones in tomato fruits were much less than 1, suggesting that hormone contamination of tomato fruits after irrigation with contaminated water could be negligible. In addition, exposure study showed that accumulation of PPCPs and hormones may rapidly reach a steady level (< 1 week) in lettuce plants with exposure through contaminated water. Lettuce plants also appear to have a potential to metabolize accumulated PPCPs, with the exception of triclosan (TCS) in roots and sulfamethoxazole (SMO) in leaves. Hormones did not exhibit any tendency to depurate. Comparing protective estimates of human exposure in lettuce leaves and acceptable daily intake (ADI) values suggests that CBZ and ethinylestradiol (EE2) could exceed their ADIs under some circumstances.Ope

A comparison of four different approaches to measuring health utility in depressed patients.

BACKGROUND: A variety of instruments are used to measure health related quality of life. Few data exist on the performance and agreement of different instruments in a depressed population. The aim of this study was to investigate agreement between, and suitability of, the EQ-5D-3L, EQ-5D Visual Analogue Scale (EQ-5D VAS), SF-6D and SF-12 new algorithm for measuring health utility in depressed patients. METHODS: The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland and Altman approaches were used to assess agreement. Instrument sensitivity was analysed by: (1) plotting utility scores for the instruments against one another; (2) correlating utility scores and depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)); and (3) using Tukey's procedure. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis assessed instrument responsiveness to change. Acceptability was assessed by comparing instrument completion rates. RESULTS: The overall ICC was 0.57. Bland and Altman plots showed wide limits of agreement for each pair wise comparison, except between the SF-6D and SF-12 new algorithm. Plots of utility scores displayed 'ceiling effects' in the EQ-5D-3L index and 'floor effects' in the SF-6D and SF-12 new algorithm. All instruments showed a negative monotonic relationship with BDI, but the EQ-5D-3L index and EQ-5D VAS could not differentiate between depression severity sub-groups. The SF-based instruments were better able to detect changes in health state over time. There was no difference in completion rates of the four instruments. CONCLUSIONS: There was a lack of agreement between utility scores generated by the different instruments. According to the criteria of sensitivity, responsiveness and acceptability that we applied, the SF-6D and SF-12 may be more suitable for the measurement of health related utility in a depressed population than the EQ-5D-3L, which is the instrument currently recommended by NICE.The CoBalT study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programme (project number: 06/ 404/02)

Doping of inorganic materials in microreactors – preparation of Zn doped Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles

Microreactor systems are now used more and more for the continuous production of metal nanoparticles and metal oxide nanoparticles owing to the controllability of the particle size, an important property in many applications. Here, for the first time, we used microreactors to prepare metal oxide nanoparticles with controlled and varying metal stoichiometry. We prepared and characterised Zn-substituted Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles with linear increase of Zn content (ZnxFe₃−xO₄ with 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.48), which causes linear increases in properties such as the saturation magnetization, relative to pure Fe₃O₄. The methodology is simple and low cost and has great potential to be adapted to the targeted doping of a vast array of other inorganic materials, allowing greater control on the chemical stoichiometry for nanoparticles prepared in microreactors

Optimal Feeding Time and Duration of Hybrid Crappie Kept Indoors

Crappie (Pomoxis spp.) is a popular sport fish with food fish potential. Feeding behavioral patterns should be considered prior to nutrtitional studies. The objective of this study was to determine the best feeding time and duration for hybrid crappie raised in indoor recirculating aquaculture systems. Three feeding treatments with three replciates consisted of two 12 hour feeding periods initiated at 0800 (12h-amLD) and 1700 (12h-pmLD) and a 24 feeding period started at 0800 (24h-amLD). Treatments in experimental tanks were arranged in a random block design and stocked with 14 hybrid fingerlings fed for 12 weeks. Fingerling fish were spwaned in pongs using previously feed trained black crappe females (P. nigromaculatus) and white crappie males (P. annularis). Weight gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR), survival rate, consumption rate and proximate analysis of fish flesh and visceral were measured. Mean mass weight gains for 12h-amLD, 12h-pmLD, and 24-amLD were 153, 196, and 139g. There were no significant differences (p ≥ 0.05) among weight gains. Mean FCR were 1.69, 1.82, and 2.57 for 12h-amLD, 12h-pmLD, and 24-amLD, respectively. A significant diffference in FCR occured between 24h and the two 12 hour treaments. There were no significant differences in survival rate, feed consumption, or composition of fish flesh among treatments. The only significant difference in visceral was between 12h treatments for ash. This study indicated that feeding times or durations did not affect hybrid crappies body weight gain. However, there could be a FCR advantage with the 12 hour feeding schedules.https://bluetigercommons.lincolnu.edu/lucer-pubs/1008/thumbnail.jp

Simulating Cherenkov radiation generated by radiotherapy beams

Cherenkov radiation has had various applications in high-energy physics since its discovery, and this research explores two applications of Cherenkov radiation relating to its presence in media under irradiation by medical radiotherapy beams. In real-time organic scintillating fiber dosimeters, the radiation fluence passing through the scintillating fibers produces Cherenkov light noise in addition to the scintillation light signal. Quantifying the Cherenkov light through Monte Carlo simulations allows us to optimize various parameters of the device, such as the spectral sensitivity profile of the photodetector attached to the end of the fiber and the fiber's shape, thickness, and emission spectrum, which allows full characterization of the Cherenkov noise in the scintillation-based detector. A second application attempts to directly measure the irradiation of surface cutaneous tissue by imaging the Cherenkov light emitted from the skin surface. The optical properties of the Cherenkov emission depend on the concentration of molecular absorbers in the epidermal and dermal layers of the skin, the optical scatter in the epidermis, and the distribution of high-energy electrons propagating through the cutaneous tissue, and the Cherenkov signal carries information on erythema development and the treatment response.Includes biblographical reference

Myocardial performance index as a measure of global left ventricular function improves following isometric exercise training in hypertensive patients

As the leading cause of cardiovascular disease and mortality, hypertension remains a global health problem. Isometric exercise training (IET) has been established as efficacious in reducing resting blood pressure (BP); however, no research to date has investigated its effects on the myocardial performance index (MPI). Twenty-four unmedicated hypertensive patients were randomized to 4 weeks of IET and a control period in a crossover design. Tissue Doppler imaging was used to acquire cardiac time intervals pre- and post-IET and during the control periods. IET significantly improved all measures of cardiac time intervals, including isovolumic relaxation time (83.1 ± 10.3 vs. 76.1 ± 11.2 ms, p = 0.006), isovolumic contraction time (84.8 ± 10.3 vs. 72.8 ± 6.4 ms, p < 0.001), ejection time (304.6 ± 30.2 vs. 321.4 ± 20.8 ms, p = 0.015) and the MPI (0.56 ± 0.09 vs. 0.47 ± 0.05, p < 0.001). This is the first study to demonstrate that IET significantly improves cardiac time intervals. These findings may have important clinical implications, highlighting the potential utility of IET in the management of cardiac health in hypertensive patients

Left ventricular mechanical, cardiac autonomic and metabolic responses to a single session of high intensity interval training

Purpose High-intensity interval training (HIIT) produces significant health benefits. However, the acute physiological responses to HIIT are poorly understood. Therefore, we aimed to measure the acute cardiac autonomic, haemodynamic, metabolic and left ventricular mechanical responses to a single HIIT session. Methods Fifty young, healthy participants completed a single HIIT session, comprising of three 30-s maximal exercise intervals on a cycle ergometer, interspersed with 2-min active recovery. Cardiac autonomics, haemodynamics and metabolic variables were measured pre-, during and post-HIIT. Conventional and speckle tracking echocardiography was used to record standard and tissue Doppler measures of left ventricular (LV) structure, function and mechanics pre- and post-HIIT. Results Following a single HIIT session, there was significant post-exercise systolic hypotension (126 ± 13 to 111 ± 10 mmHg, p < 0.05), parallel to a significant reduction in total peripheral resistance (1640 ± 365 to 639 ± 177 dyne⋅s⋅cm⁵, p < 0.001) and significant increases in baroreceptor reflex sensitivity and baroreceptor effectiveness index (9.2 ± 11 to 24.8 ± 16.7 ms⋅mmHg⁻¹ and 41.8 ± 28 to 68.8 ± 16.2, respectively) during recovery compared to baseline. There was also a significant increase in the low- to high-frequency heart rate variability ratio in recovery (0.7 ± 0.48 to 1.7 ± 1, p < 0.001) and significant improvements in left ventricular global longitudinal strain (− 18.3 ± 1.2% to − 29.2 ± 2.3%, p < 0.001), and myocardial twist mechanics (1.27 ± 0.72 to 1.98 ± 0.72°·cm⁻¹, p = 0.028) post-HIIT compared to baseline. Conclusion A single HIIT session is associated with acute improvements in autonomic modulation, haemodynamic cardiovascular control and left ventricular function, structure and mechanics. The acute responses to HIIT provide crucial mechanistic information, which may have significant acute and chronic clinical implications