Detailed 3D structure of OrionA in dust with Gaia DR2

The unprecedented astrometry from Gaia DR2 provides us with an opportunity to study in detail molecular clouds in the solar neighbourhood. Extracting the wealth of information in these data remains a challenge, however. We have further improved our Gaussian Processes-based, three-dimensional dust mapping technique to allow us to study molecular clouds in more detail. These improvements include a significantly better scaling of the computational cost with the number of stars, and taking into account distance uncertainties to individual stars. Using Gaia DR2 astrometry together with 2MASS and WISE photometry for 30 000 stars, we infer the distribution of dust out to 600 pc in the direction of the Orion A molecular cloud. We identify a bubble-like structure in front of Orion A, centred at a distance of about 350 pc from the Sun. The main Orion A structure is visible at slightly larger distances, and we clearly see a tail extending over 100 pc that is curved and slightly inclined to the line-of-sight. The location of our foreground structure coincides with 5-10 Myr old stellar populations, suggesting a star formation episode that predates that of the Orion Nebula Cluster itself. We identify also the main structure of the Orion B molecular cloud, and in addition discover a background component to this at a distance of about 460 pc from the Sun. Finally, we associate our dust components at different distances with the plane-of-the-sky magnetic field orientation as mapped by Planck. This provides valuable information for modelling the magnetic field in 3D around star forming regions.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics. 9 pages, 12 figure

Exploration of the understanding and etiology of ADHD in HIV/AIDS as observed by adolescents with HIV/AIDS, caregivers and health workers- using case vignettes.

BACKGROUND: Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent behavioural disorder among children and adolescents with HIV infection (CA-HIV). OBJECTIVE: To explore the explanations used by adolescents with HIV/AIDS, caregivers and health workers to understand and explain ADHD in HIV/AIDS. METHODS: This was a qualitative sub-study nested within a larger research project whose focus was on mental health among HIV infected children and adolescents in Kampala and Masaka, Uganda (CHAKA study, 2014-2017). Participants were recruited from five study sites: two in Kampala and three in Masaka. We purposively sampled 10 ADHD adolescent-caregiver dyads equally divided between the Masaka and Kampala sites, age groups and gender. Semi-structured interviews were carried out within 12 months of baseline. Ten HIV health workers (two from each study site) participated. The ten health workers were assessed about their knowledge related to psychiatric disorders (especially ADHD in HIV/AIDS), services available for such clients and gaps in service provision for CA-HIV with behavioural / emotional disorders. Participants were recruited over one month. Taped interviews were transcribed and preliminary coding categories generated based on the research questions. Broad categories of related codes were then generated to derive a coding framework. Thematic analyses were conducted to elicit common themes emerging from the transcripts. RESULTS: Explanations used by respondents to express their understanding related to ADHD among CA-HIV included; psychosocial stressors, biomedical manifestations, personal traits and supernaturalism, which affected health seeking behaviour. CONCLUSION: In contexts similar to those in Uganda, treatment approaches for ADHD among HIV positive CA-HIV should consider the explanations provided by CA-HIV, caregivers to CA-HIV and HIV health workers

An Efficient Paradigm for Genetic Epidemiology Cohort Creation

Development of novel methodologies to efficiently create large genetic epidemiology cohorts is needed. Here we describe a rapid, precise and cost-efficient method for collection of DNA from cases previously experiencing an osteoporotic fracture by identifying cases using and administrative health-care databases. Over the course of 14 months we collected DNA from 1,130 women experiencing an osteoporotic fracture, at a cost of $54 per sample. This cohort is among the larger DNA osteoporotic fracture collections in the world. The novel method described addresses a major unmet health care research need and is widely applicable to any disease that can be identified accurately through administrative data

Strong Approximation of Empirical Copula Processes by Gaussian Processes

We provide the strong approximation of empirical copula processes by a Gaussian process. In addition we establish a strong approximation of the smoothed empirical copula processes and a law of iterated logarithm

Exploration of the understanding and etiology of ADHD in HIV/AIDS as observed by adolescents with HIV/AIDS, caregivers and health workers- using case vignettes

Background: Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent behavioural disorder among children and adolescents with HIV infection (CA-HIV). Objective: To explore the explanations used by adolescents with HIV/AIDS, caregivers and health workers to understand and explain ADHD in HIV/AIDS. Methods: This was a qualitative sub-study nested within a larger research project whose focus was on mental health among HIV infected children and adolescents in Kampala and Masaka, Uganda (CHAKA study, 2014-2017). Participants were recruited from five study sites: two in Kampala and three in Masaka. We purposively sampled 10 ADHD adolescent-caregiver dyads equally divided between the Masaka and Kampala sites, age groups and gender. Semi-structured interviews were carried out within 12 months of baseline. Ten HIV health workers (two from each study site) participated. The ten health workers were assessed about their knowledge related to psychiatric disorders (especially ADHD in HIV/AIDS), services available for such clients and gaps in service provision for CA-HIV with behavioural / emotional disorders. Participants were recruited over one month. Taped interviews were transcribed and preliminary coding categories generated based on the research questions. Broad categories of related codes were then generated to derive a coding framework. Thematic analyses were conducted to elicit common themes emerging from the transcripts. Results: Explanations used by respondents to express their understanding related to ADHD among CA-HIV included; psychosocial stressors, biomedical manifestations, personal traits and supernaturalism, which affected health seeking behaviour. Conclusion: In contexts similar to those in Uganda, treatment approaches for ADHD among HIV positive CA-HIV should consider the explanations provided by CA-HIV, caregivers to CA-HIV and HIV health workers

A comparison of the Milky Way's recent star formation revealed by dust thermal emission and high-mass stars

We present a comparison of the Milky Way's star formation rate (SFR) surface density ($\Sigma_{\rm SFR}$) obtained with two independent state-of-the-art observational methods. The first method infers $\Sigma_{\rm SFR}$ from the observations of the dust thermal emission from interstellar dust grains in far infrared wavelengths registered in the Herschel Infrared Galactic Plane Survey (Hi-GAL), as presented in Elia et al. (2022). The second method obtains $\Sigma_{\rm SFR}$ by modeling the current population of O-, B-, and A-type stars in a 6 kpc $\times$ 6 kpc area around the Sun, as presented in Zari et al. (2023). We found an agreement between the two methods within a factor of two for the mean SFRs and the SFR surface density profiles. Given the broad differences between the observational techniques and the independent assumptions in the methods to compute the SFRs, this agreement constitutes a significant advance in our understanding of the star formation of our Galaxy and implies that the local SFR has been roughly constant over the past 10 Myr.Comment: Submitted to A&A (31JUL2023). 8 pages, 7 figures. Comments are welcom

Prevalence and risk factors for youth suicidality among perinatally infected youths living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda: the CHAKA study.

BACKGROUND: Research from high income countries indicates that suicide is a major mental health care concern and a leading cause of preventable deaths among children and adolescents. Proper assessment and management of youth suicidality is crucial in suicide prevention, but little is known about its prevalence and associated risk factors in Sub-Saharan Africa. In low income countries there is an increased risk of suicide among persons with HIV/AIDS even in the presence of the highly active antiretroviral therapy. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of and risk factors for youth suicidality among perinatally infected youth living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda. METHODS: We studied 392 HIV positive children (5-11 years) and adolescents (12-17 years) and their caregivers in Kampala and Masaka districts. Caregivers were administered the suicide assessment section of the MINI International Psychiatric Interview. Socio-demographic characteristics, psychiatric diagnoses, and psychosocial and clinical factors were assessed and suicidality (suicidal ideation and or suicidal attempt) was the outcome variable. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios adjusting for study site and sex at 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: Caregivers reported a suicidality rate of 10.7% (CI 8-14.1) in the past one month with higher rates among urban female (12.4%, CI 8.6-17.7) than male (8.7%, CI 5.4-13.8) youth. Lifetime prevalence of attempted suicide was 2.3% (n = 9, CI 1.2-4.4) with the highest rates among urban female youth. Among children, caregivers reported a lifetime prevalence of attempted suicide of 1.5%. The self-reported rate of attempted suicide in the past month was 1.8% (n = 7, CI 0.8-3.7) with lifetime prevalence of 2.8% (n = 11, CI 1.6-5.0). The most common methods used during suicide attempts were cutting, taking overdose of HIV medications, use of organophosphates, hanging, stabbing and self-starvation. Clinical correlates of suicidality were low socioeconomic status (OR = 2.27, CI 1.06-4.87, p = 0.04), HIV felt stigma (OR = 2.10, CI 1.04-3.00, p = 0.02), and major depressive disorder (OR = 1.80, CI 0.48-2.10, p = 0.04). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder was protective against suicidality (OR = 0.41, CI 0.18-0.92, p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: The one-month prevalence of suicidality among CA-HIV was 10.7%

Prevalence and correlates for ADHD and relation with social and academic functioning among children and adolescents with HIV/AIDS in Uganda

Background: Aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), its associated correlates and relations with clinical and behavioural problems among children and adolescents with HIV/AIDS (CA-HIV) attending five HIV clinics in central and South Western Uganda. Methods: This study used a quantitative design that involved a random sample of 1339 children and adolescents with HIV and their caregivers. The Participants completed an extensive battery of measures including a standardized DSM-5 referenced rating scale, the parent version (5–18 years) of the Child and Adolescent Symptom Inventory-5 (CASI-5). Using logistic regression, we estimated the prevalence of ADHD and presentations, correlates and its impact on negative clinical and behavioural factors. Results: The overall prevalence of ADHD was 6% (n = 81; 95%CI, 4.8–7.5%). The predominantly inattentive presentation was the most common (3.7%) whereas the combined presentation was the least prevalent (0.7%). Several correlates were associated with ADHD: socio-demographic (age, sex and socio-economic status); caregiver (caregiver psychological distress and marginally, caregiver educational attainment); child’s psychosocial environment (quality of child-caregiver relationship, history of physical abuse and marginally, orphanhood); and HIV illness parameters (marginally, CD4 counts). ADHD was associated with poor academic performance, school disciplinary problems and early onset of sexual intercourse. Conclusions: ADHD impacts the lives of many CA-HIV and is associated with poorer academic performance and earlier onset of sexual intercourse. There is an urgent need to integrate the delivery of mental health services into routine clinical care for CA-HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12888-017-1488-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Prevalence, correlates for early neurological disorders and association with functioning among children and adolescents with HIV/AIDS in Uganda.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of neurological disorders and their associated correlates and relations with clinical and behavioural problems among children and adolescents with HIV/AIDS (CA-HIV). METHODS: This study involved a sample of 1070 CA-HIV/caregiver dyads who were evaluated at their 6-month follow-up visit as part of their participation in the longitudinal study, 'Mental health among HIV infected CHildren and Adolescents in KAmpala and Masaka, Uganda (the CHAKA study)'. Participants completed an extensive battery of measures that included a standardized DSM-5- referenced rating scale, the parent version (5-18?years) of the Child and Adolescent Symptom Inventory-5 (CASI-5). Using logistic regression, we estimated the prevalence of neurological disorders and characterised their associations with negative clinical and behavioural factors. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of at least one neurological disorders was 18.5% (n?=?198; 95% CI, 16.2-20.8). Enuresis / encopresis was the most common (10%), followed by motor/vocal tics (5.3%); probable epilepsy was the least prevalent (4%). Correlates associated with neurological disorders were in two domains: socio-demographic factors (age, ethnicity and staying in rural areas) and HIV-related factors (baseline viral load suppression). Enuresis/encopresis was associated with psychiatric comorbidity. Neurological disorders were associated with earlier onset of sexual intercourse (adjusted OR 4.06, 95% CI 1.26-13.1, P?=?0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Neurological disorders impact lives of many children and adolescents with HIV/AIDS. There is an urgent need to integrate the delivery of mental and neurological health services into routine clinical care for children and adolescents with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa

Physical and psychiatric comorbidities among patients with severe mental illness as seen in Uganda

While psychiatric and physical comorbidities in severe mental illness (SMI) have been associated with increased mortality and poor clinical outcomes, problem has received little attention in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study established the prevalence of psychiatric (schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, and recurrent major depressive disorder) and physical (HIV/AIDS, syphilis, hypertension and obesity) comorbidities and associated factors among 1201 out-patients with SMI (schizophrenia, depression and bipolar affective disorder) attending care at two hospitals in Uganda. Participants completed an assessment battery including structured, standardised and locally translated instruments. SMIs were established using the MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview version 7.2. We used logistic regression to determine the association between physical and psychiatric comorbidities and potential risk factors. Bipolar affective disorder was the most prevalent (66.4%) psychiatric diagnoses followed by schizophrenia (26.6%) and recurrent major depressive disorder (7.0%). Prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity was 9.1%, while physical disorder comorbidity was 42.6%. Specific comorbid physical disorders were hypertension (27.1%), obesity (13.8%), HIV/AIDS (8.2%) and syphilis (4.8%). Potentially modifiable factors independently significantly associated with psychiatric and physical comorbidities were: use of alcohol for both syphilis and hypertension comorbidities; and use of a mood stabilisers and khat in comorbidity with obesity. Only psychiatric comorbidity was positively associated with the negative outcomes of suicidality and risky sexual behaviour. The healthcare models for psychiatric care in LMICs such as Uganda should be optimised to address the high burden of psychiatric and physical comorbidities