Interoceptive training to target anxiety in autistic adults (ADIE): A single-center, superiority randomized controlled trial

Background: This trial tested if a novel therapy, Aligning Dimensions of Interoceptive Experience (ADIE), reduces anxiety in autistic adults. ADIE targets the association of anxiety with mismatch between subjective and behavioral measures of an individual's interoceptive sensitivity to bodily signals, including heartbeats. // Methods: In this superiority randomized controlled trial, autistic adults (18–65 years) from clinical and community settings in Southern England were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive six sessions of ADIE or an active ‘exteroceptive’ control therapy (emotional prosody identification). Researchers conducting outcome assessments were blind to allocation. ADIE combines two modified heartbeat detection tasks with performance feedback and physical activity manipulation that transiently increases cardiac arousal. Participants were followed-up one-week (T1) and 3-months post-intervention (T2). The primary outcome was Spielberger Trait Anxiety Score (STAI-T) at T2. Outcomes were assessed on an intention-to-treat basis using multiple imputation for dealing with missing values. This trial was registered at International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Registry, ISRCTN14848787. // Findings: Between July 01, 2017, and December 31, 2019, 121 participants were randomly allocated to ADIE (n = 61) or prosody (n = 60) intervention groups. Data at T1 was provided by 85 (70%) participants (46 [75%] ADIE; 39 [65%] prosody). Data at T2 was provided by 61 (50%) participants (36 [59%] ADIE; 25 [42%] prosody). One adverse event (cardiac anxiety following ADIE) was recorded. A statistically significant group effect of ADIE on trait anxiety continued at T2 (estimated mean difference 3•23 [95% CI 1•13 to 5•29]; d = 0•30 [95% CI 0•09 to 0•51]; p = 0•005) with 31% of ADIE group participants meeting trial criteria for recovery (compared to 16% in the control group). // Interpretation: ADIE can reduce anxiety in autistic adults, putatively improving regulatory control over internal stimuli. With little reliance on language and emotional insight, ADIE may constitute an inclusive intervention

In vitro susceptibilities of Neoscytalidium spp. sequence types to antifungal agents and antimicrobial photodynamic treatment with phenothiazinium photosensitizers

Neoscytalidium spp. are ascomycetous fungi consisting of pigmented and hyaline varieties both able to cause skin and nail infection. Their colour-based identification is inaccurate and may compromise the outcome of the studies with these fungi. The aim of this study was to genotype 32 isolates morphologically identified as Neoscytalidium dimidiatum or Neoscytalidium dimidiatum var. hyalinum by multilocus sequence typing (MLST), differentiate the two varieties by their sequence types (STs), evaluate their susceptibility to seven commercial antifungal drugs [amphotericin B (AMB), voriconazole (VOR), terbinafine (TER), 5-flucytosine (5FC), ketoconazole (KET), fluconazole (FLU), and caspofungin (CAS)], and also to the antimicrobial photodynamic treatment (APDT) with the phenothiazinium photosensitizers (PSs) methylene blue (MB), new methylene blue (NMBN), toluidine blue O (TBO), and the pentacyclic derivative S137. The efficacy of each PS was determined, initially, based on its minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC). Additionally, the APDT effects with each PS on the survival of ungerminated and germinated arthroconidia of both varieties were evaluated. Seven loci of Neoscytalidium spp. were sequenced on MLST revealing eight polymorphic sites and six STs. All N. dimidiatum var. hyalinum isolates were clustered in a single ST. AMB, VOR, and TER were the most effective antifungal agents against both varieties. The hyaline variety isolates were much less tolerant to the azoles than the isolates of the pigmented variety. APDT with S137 showed the lowest MIC for all the isolates of both varieties. APDT with all the PSs killed both ungerminated and germinated arthroconidia of both varieties reducing the survival up to 5 logs. Isolates of the hyaline variety were also less tolerant to APDT. APDT with the four PSs also increased the plasma membrane permeability of arthroconidia of both varieties but only NMBN and S137 caused peroxidation of the membrane lipids. © 2017 British Mycological Society

Regionalização para o cultivo do feijão no Rio Grande do Sul com base na interação genótipo x ambiente¹.

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Percentile reference values for anthropometric body composition indices in European children from the IDEFICS study

INTRODUCTION: To characterise the nutritional status in children with obesity or wasting conditions, European anthropometric reference values for body composition measures beyond the body mass index (BMI) are needed. Differentiated assessment of body composition in children has long been hampered by the lack of appropriate references. OBJECTIVES: The aim of our study is to provide percentiles for body composition indices in normal weight European children, based on the IDEFICS cohort (Identification and prevention of Dietary-and lifestyle-induced health Effects in Children and infantS). METHODS: Overall 18 745 2.0-10.9-year-old children from eight countries participated in the study. Children classified as overweight/obese or underweight according to IOTF (N = 5915) were excluded from the analysis. Anthropometric measurements (BMI (N = 12 830); triceps, subscapular, fat mass and fat mass index (N = 11 845-11 901); biceps, suprailiac skinfolds, sum of skinfolds calculated from skinfold thicknesses (N = 8129-8205), neck circumference (N = 12 241); waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio (N = 12 381)) were analysed stratified by sex and smoothed 1st, 3rd, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, 97th and 99th percentile curves were calculated using GAMLSS. RESULTS: Percentile values of the most important anthropometric measures related to the degree of adiposity are depicted for European girls and boys. Age-and sex-specific differences were investigated for all measures. As an example, the 50th and 99th percentile values of waist circumference ranged from 50.7-59.2 cm and from 51.3-58.7 cm in 4.5-to < 5.0-year-old girls and boys, respectively, to 60.6-74.5 cm in girls and to 59.9-76.7 cm in boys at the age of 10.5-10.9 years. CONCLUSION: The presented percentile curves may aid a differentiated assessment of total and abdominal adiposity in European children

Too Depressed to Swim or Too Afraid to Stop? A Reinterpretation of the Forced Swim Test as a Measure of Anxiety-Like Behavior

Depression is one of the most common forms of mental illness. Despite decades of research, the mechanisms underlying this disorder remain unknown. To help elucidate the pathophysiology of depression, researchers are developing animal models of psychiatric disorders, including depression, and assessing for mood-related phenotypes. There are a limited number of behavioral assays available to assess depression-like behaviors in rodents but by far the most common is the forced swim test (FST). Although the FST is considered the gold standard for studying depression-like behaviors, there are strong reasons to question the interpretation that immobility represents ‘despair’ and escape-directed behaviors such as climbing represent the absence of a depression-like phenotype. It has recently been proposed that immobility in the FST is an adaptive learned response and reflects a switch from active to passive coping strategies (De Kloet and Molendijk, 2016). Although we agree with De Kloet and Molendijk (2016) that immobility is adaptive, we disagree on the interpretation of active versus passive coping strategies. Instead, we believe that escape-directed behaviors are driven by anxiety. We argue this perspective on the basis of comorbidity, gene targeting, and pharmacological studies

A change in the optical polarization associated with a gamma-ray flare in the blazar 3C 279

It is widely accepted that strong and variable radiation detected over all accessible energy bands in a number of active galaxies arises from a relativistic, Doppler-boosted jet pointing close to our line of sight. The size of the emitting zone and the location of this region relative to the central supermassive black hole are, however, poorly known, with estimates ranging from light-hours to a light-year or more. Here we report the coincidence of a gamma-ray flare with a dramatic change of optical polarization angle. This provides evidence for co-spatiality of optical and gamma-ray emission regions and indicates a highly ordered jet magnetic field. The results also require a non-axisymmetric structure of the emission zone, implying a curved trajectory for the emitting material within the jet, with the dissipation region located at a considerable distance from the black hole, at about 10^5 gravitational radii.Comment: Published in Nature issued on 18 February 2010. Corresponding authors: Masaaki Hayashida and Greg Madejsk