Young offenders caught in the act:A population-based cohort study comparing internationally adopted and non-adopted adolescents

Empirical research has shown an elevated risk for externalizing behavior problems in international adoptees. To address the extent to which this risk exists for more serious externalizing problems we compared the rates of registered criminal offending of internationally adopted adolescents with those of non-adopted adolescents in the Netherlands. In a large population-based cohort study (N = 3,758,506 including n = 10,563 international adoptees) on Dutch youth with ages up to 19 years we examined registrations in the program on juvenile crime and in the national police system from 2005 to 2013. Controlling for time lapse and background variables we found that international adoptees had been in contact with the criminal justice system more frequently than non-adoptees. However, the findings differed across region of adoption: Adoptees from South America and from Africa had been in contact with the criminal justice system most frequently (and more often than non-adoptees), whereas adoptees from China (total n = 4569) had the least contacts (and less often than non-adoptees). The percentages of criminal offending of adoptees ranged between 1.16% and 15.83% across regions of adoption (versus 10.86% in non-adoptees). The large majority of adoptees – including those from South America and Africa – were not involved in criminal acts. We hypothesize that the higher and lower risks of criminal offending found for adoptees from certain countries are associated with the varying levels of pre-adoption adversity (e.g., neglect and abuse) that the adoptees have experienced

Intergenerational transmission of child maltreatment using a multi-informant multi-generation family design.

In the current study a three-generational design was used to investigate intergenerational transmission of child maltreatment (ITCM) using multiple sources of information on child maltreatment: mothers, fathers and children. A total of 395 individuals from 63 families reported on maltreatment. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to combine data from mother, father and child about maltreatment that the child had experienced. This established components reflecting the convergent as well as the unique reports of father, mother and child on the occurrence of maltreatment. Next, we tested ITCM using the multi-informant approach and compared the results to those of two more common approaches: ITCM based on one reporter and ITCM based on different reporters from each generation. Results of our multi-informant approach showed that a component reflecting convergence between mother, father, and child reports explained most of the variance in experienced maltreatment. For abuse, intergenerational transmission was consistently found across approaches. In contrast, intergenerational transmission of neglect was only found using the perspective of a single reporter, indicating that transmission of neglect might be driven by reporter effects. In conclusion, the present results suggest that including multiple informants may be necessary to obtain more valid estimates of ITCM

Accurate detection of circulating tumor DNA using nanopore consensus sequencing

Levels of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in liquid biopsies may serve as a sensitive biomarker for real-time, minimally-invasive tumor diagnostics and monitoring. However, detecting ctDNA is challenging, as much fewer than 5% of the cell-free DNA in the blood typically originates from the tumor. To detect lowly abundant ctDNA molecules based on somatic variants, extremely sensitive sequencing methods are required. Here, we describe a new technique, CyclomicsSeq, which is based on Oxford Nanopore sequencing of concatenated copies of a single DNA molecule. Consensus calling of the DNA copies increased the base-calling accuracy ~60×, enabling accurate detection of TP53 mutations at frequencies down to 0.02%. We demonstrate that a TP53-specific CyclomicsSeq assay can be successfully used to monitor tumor burden during treatment for head-and-neck cancer patients. CyclomicsSeq can be applied to any genomic locus and offers an accurate diagnostic liquid biopsy approach that can be implemented in clinical workflows

Author Correction: Accurate detection of circulating tumor DNA using nanopore consensus sequencing

The Data Availability statement in the original version of the paper reads: “The sequencing datasets generated during the current study are available upon request at EGA, under accession number EGAS00001003759”. However, as this data upload was not successful, the authors reuploaded the data under a different accession number and have amended the Data Availability statement to read “The sequencing datasets generated during the current study are available upon request at EGA, under accession number EGAS00001007090”. The original article has been corrected.</p

Neurobiological correlates of antisociality across adolescence and young adulthood: a multi-sample, multi-method study

Background Antisociality across adolescence and young adulthood puts individuals at high risk of developing a variety of problems. Prior research has linked antisociality to autonomic nervous system and endocrinological functioning. However, there is large heterogeneity in antisocial behaviors, and these neurobiological measures are rarely studied conjointly, limited to small specific studies with narrow age ranges, and yield mixed findings due to the type of behavior examined. Methods We harmonized data from 1489 participants (9-27 years, 67% male), from six heterogeneous samples. In the resulting dataset, we tested relations between distinct dimensions of antisociality and heart rate, pre-ejection period (PEP), respiratory sinus arrhythmia, respiration rate, skin conductance levels, testosterone, basal cortisol, and the cortisol awakening response (CAR), and test the role of age throughout adolescence and young adulthood. Results Three dimensions of antisociality were uncovered: 'callous-unemotional (CU)/manipulative traits', 'intentional aggression/conduct', and 'reactivity/impulsivity/irritability'. Shorter PEPs and higher testosterone were related to CU/manipulative traits, and a higher CAR is related to both CU/manipulative traits and intentional aggression/conduct. These effects were stable across age. Conclusions Across a heterogeneous sample and consistent across development, the CAR may be a valuable measure to link to CU/manipulative traits and intentional aggression, while sympathetic arousal and testosterone are additionally valuable to understand CU/manipulative traits. Together, these findings deepen our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underlying different components of antisociality. Finally, we illustrate the potential of using current statistical techniques for combining multiple datasets to draw robust conclusions about biobehavioral associations

Cell-free nucleic acids in body fluids as biomarkers for the prediction and early detection of recurrent head and neck cancer : A systematic review of the literature

Liquid biopsy is a minimally invasive detection method for molecular biomarkers in body fluids which may serve as a novel tool in management of head and neck cancer. The purpose of this systematic review is to outline the current status of liquid biopsy in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients by systematically identifying and qualifying all published studies on the diagnostic or prognostic value of cell-free nucleic acids detection for posttreatment disease monitoring and/or disease outcome. A search was performed in PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library. Thirty articles met the inclusion criteria for further analysis. Study and patient characteristics, molecular analysis method and treatment or prognostic outcomes were extracted. Seventeen studies investigated circulating miRNAs in blood. Of these studies, 16 found statistically significant results for a total of 24 different candidate miRNAs for prognostication or treatment monitoring. The remaining studies investigated circulating tumor DNA by targeting somatic mutations, allelic imbalances, hypermethylation, or HPV-DNA. Of these studies, 2 found a statistically significant association between nucleic acid levels (tumor DNA targeted by allelic imbalances and HPV-DNA) in blood and/or saliva and prognostic outcome. One study found significantly different pre- and posttreatment levels of mitochondrial DNA in serum. Despite large differences among these studies in both design and results, individual results are promising and provide ground for more large-scale studies with standardized serial assessment of patient samples in the future

Droplet digital PCR for detection and quantification of circulating tumor DNA in plasma of head and neck cancer patients

BACKGROUND: During posttreatment surveillance of head and neck cancer patients, imaging is insufficiently accurate for the early detection of relapsing disease. Free circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) may serve as a novel biomarker for monitoring tumor burden during posttreatment surveillance of these patients. In this exploratory study, we investigated whether low level ctDNA in plasma of head and neck cancer patients can be detected using Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR). METHODS: TP53 mutations were determined in surgically resected primary tumor samples from six patients with high stage (II-IV), moderate to poorly differentiated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Subsequently, mutation specific ddPCR assays were designed. Pretreatment plasma samples from these patients were examined on the presence of ctDNA by ddPCR using the mutation-specific assays. The ddPCR results were evaluated alongside clinicopathological data. RESULTS: In all cases, plasma samples were found positive for targeted TP53 mutations in varying degrees (absolute quantification of 2.2-422 mutational copies/ml plasma). Mutations were detected in wild-type TP53 background templates of 7667-156,667 copies/ml plasma, yielding fractional abundances of down to 0.01%. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that detection of tumor specific TP53 mutations in low level ctDNA from HNSCC patients using ddPCR is technically feasible and provide ground for future research on ctDNA quantification for the use of diagnostic biomarkers in the posttreatment surveillance of HNSCC patients