Active Teaching Methodologies Improve Cognitive Performance and Attention-Concentration in University Students

The scientific literature shows a beneficial association between active methodologies and cognitive variables in university students. The purpose of this research was to determine the relationship between active methodologies in Physical Education and attention and concentration in a group of university students A total of forty-four undergraduate students from Pontifical University of Comillas of the Balearic Islands, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, participated in the present investigation (age: 20.48 +/- 1.37 years; height: 170.77 +/- 9.11 cm; weight: 68.84 +/- 8.29 kg; body mass index: 23.51 +/- 1.54). A D2 attention test was used to analyse their selective attention and concentration. Active methodologies were used to improve the students' physical fitness, reflected in their VO2max, which was evaluated using an incremental cycloergometer test. A correlation analysis performed between the active methodologies used to improve physical fitness measures and the D2 test revealed a negative moderate correlation between HRmax and TR, TA and TR- (r = -0.30, p = 0.04; r = -0.38, p = 0.01; and r = -0.35, p = 0.02, respectively), and a positive moderate correlation between HRmax and C (r = -0.32, p = 0.03). Finally, a negative moderate correlation was found between VT and C (r = -0.48, p = 0.001). This correlation analysis was reinforced by the results of a regression analysis. In summary, the present research revealed that university students with better aerobic fitness, achieved through active methodologies and reflected in VT and higher HRmax, obtained better values in TA, TR and C. University students should be encouraged to engage in regular physical activity through active methodologies that tend to increase physical fitness

Association of Tourette Syndrome and Chronic Tic Disorder With Subsequent Risk of Alcohol- or Drug-Related Disorders, Criminal Convictions, and Death : A Population-Based Family Study

BACKGROUND: It remains unclear if individuals with Tourette syndrome (TS) or chronic tic disorder (CTD) have an elevated risk of subsequent substance misuse. METHODS: In this population-based cohort study, we investigated the association between ICD diagnoses of TS/CTD and substance misuse outcomes, accounting for psychiatric comorbidity and familial factors. The cohort included all individuals living in Sweden at any time between January 1, 1973, and December 31, 2013. Substance misuse outcomes were defined as an ICD code of substance use-related disorder or cause of death, or as a substance use-related criminal conviction in the nationwide registers. RESULTS: The cohort included 14,277,199 individuals, of whom 7832 had a TS/CTD diagnosis (76.3% men). TS/CTD was associated with an increased risk of any subsequent substance misuse outcomes (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 3.11; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.94-3.29), including alcohol-related disorder (aHR, 3.45; 95% CI, 3.19-3.72), drug-related disorder (aHR, 6.84; 95% CI, 6.32-7.40), substance-related criminal convictions (aHR, 2.56; 95% CI, 2.36-2.77), and substance-related death (aHR, 2.54; 95% CI, 1.83-3.52). Excluding psychiatric comorbidities had little effect on the magnitude of the associations, with the exception of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, which attenuated the risk of any substance misuse outcomes (aHR, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.82-2.19). The risk of any substance misuse outcomes in individuals with TS/CTD was substantially attenuated but remained significant when compared with their unaffected siblings (aHR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.53-1.97). CONCLUSIONS: TS/CTD were associated with various types of subsequent substance misuse outcomes, independently of psychiatric comorbidity and familial factors shared between siblings. Screening for drug and alcohol use should become part of the standard clinical routines, particularly in patients with comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.Peer reviewe

Psychometric evaluation of the appearance anxiety inventory in adolescents with body dysmorphic disorder

The Appearance Anxiety Inventory (AAI) is a self-report measure assessing the typical cognitions and behaviours of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). Despite its use in research and clinical settings, its psychometric properties have not been evaluated in young people with BDD. We examined the factor structure, reliability, validity, and sensitivity to change of the AAI in 182 youths with BDD (82.9% girls; Mage = 15.56, SD = 1.37) consecutively referred to two specialist outpatient clinics in Stockholm, Sweden (n = 97) and London, England (n = 85). An exploratory factor analysis identified three factors, namely "threat monitoring", "camouflaging", and "avoidance", explaining 48.15% of the variance. The scale showed good internal consistency (McDonalds omega = 0.83) and adequate convergent validity with the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale Modified for Body Dysmorphic Disorder for Adolescents (BDD-YBOCS-A; rs = 0.42) and the Clinical Global Impression-Severity Scale (rs = 0.32). Sensitivity to change was adequate, with AAI total scores and individual factor scores significantly decreasing over time in the subgroup of participants receiving multimodal treatment for BDD (n = 79). Change of AAI scores over treatment showed a positive statistically significant moderate-to-good correlation (r = 0.55) with changes in BDD symptom severity, measured by the BDD-YBOCS-A. The study provides empirical support for the use of the AAI in young people with BDD in clinical settings

Pre-pregnancy maternal cardiovascular diseases and risk of offspring’s neurodevelopmental disorders: a population-based cohort study.

Objective Maternal exposure to cardiovascular disease (CVD) is associated with adverse maternal and neonatal health outcomes. However, its association with offspring’s long-term neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) is not yet known. We aimed to investigate the association between maternal pre-existing CVDs and children’s NDDs. Approach This nationwide cohort study included 2.7 million live singleton births recorded in the Swedish Medical Birth Register between 1990 and 2019. Information on maternal pre-pregnancy CVDs was extracted from the National Patient Register, including diagnosis of cerebrovascular disease, heart failure, arrhythmia, valvular and congenital heart diseases. Registered diagnoses of offspring NDDs included Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and intellectual disability. Cox proportional hazards models were fitted to estimate Hazard Ratios (HRs) and 95% Confidence Intervals (CIs) for the associations. All estimates were adjusted for offspring’s age at diagnosis, sex, calendar period, and maternal characteristics including age at birth, parity, education, country of birth, cohabitation status, smoking, psychiatric illness, pre-gestational diabetes, and hypertension. Results The overall prevalence of maternal CVDs was 0.8% between 1990 and 2019. A total of 141 651 individuals (5.2%) received a diagnosis of ADHD, 64 691 (2.4%) of ASD, and 22 913 (0.9%) received a diagnosis of intellectual disability. The adjusted analyses showed that offspring of mothers with CVD had 16% higher rate of ADHD (HR 1.16; 95% CI: 1.09-1.24) and 12% higher rate of ASD (HR 1.12; 95% CI: 1.02-1.23), compared with offspring of mothers without CVD. Specifically, maternal heart failure was associated with 1.93-fold increased HR of ASD (95% CI: 1.21-3.08), maternal arrhythmia with 14% increased rate of ADHD (95% CI: 1.04-1.24), and maternal cerebrovascular disease was associated with 30% elevated rate of ASD (95% CI: 1.07-1.59) and 17% elevated rate of ADHD (95% CI: 1.02-1.36). No association was found between maternal CVDs and intellectual disability. Conclusion Maternal CVD before pregnancy may be a risk factor for offspring’s ADHD and ASD, with varied risks by CVD subtypes. The mechanisms behind the associations warrant further investigations

Estudio de la dependencia al teléfono móvil en universitarios/as del Grado de Educación Social de la UHU

El teléfono móvil es un instrumento tecnológico relativamente nuevo y accesible, especialmente para los jóvenes, cuyo abuso del uso conlleva el comportamiento adictivo. ¿Existe más dependencia al teléfono móvil en mujeres que en hombres?; ¿Influye la edad en la dependencia al teléfono móvil? El interés por este problema ha aumentado al paso de los años, especialmente por la implicación de población cada vez más joven. El objetivo general de la presente investigación es averiguar el número de alumnos/as que disponen de teléfono móvil y de Internet, así como también analizar la dependencia al móvil entre las distintas edades (19-24/25- 30 y de 30 en adelante), y averiguar el grado de dependencia en los estudiantes universitarios de Educación Social, comparándolo entre ambos sexos. Para ello, se realizó un cuestionario a los alumnos/as de los cuatro años de carrera de la Universidad de Huelva del grado de Educación Social. Se realizaron 133 cuestionarios, indicando los resultados que en su mayoría son mujeres de edades comprendidas entre 19 y 24 años. Se confirma que el 100% de los alumnos/ as de dicho grado tienen teléfono móvil e internet

Neurological soft signs in obsessive-compulsive disorder: two empirical studies and meta-analysis

Neurological soft signs (NSS) have been inconsistently reported in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) but may make an impact on treatment response. Method: The current study examined the presence of NSS in two independent European samples of OCD patients (combined 85 patients and 88 matched healthy controls) using a standardized instrument and conducted a meta-analysis of all published studies identified in the literature with the aim to provide a more definitive answer to the question of whether OCD patients are characterized by increased NSS. Results Both empirical studies found elevated NSS scores in patients compared with matched controls. The results of the meta-analysis, which included 15 studies (combined 498 patients and 520 controls) showed large effect sizes (Hedges' g=1.27, 95% confidence interval 0.80-1.75), indicating that OCD patients have significantly higher rates of NSS than matched controls on both sides of the body and in multiple domains (motor coordination, sensory integration and primitive reflexes). The results were robust and remained largely unchanged in our reliability analyses, which controlled for possible outliers. Meta-regression was employed to examine the role of potential variables of interest including sociodemographic variables, symptom severity, medication effects and the use of different instruments, but none of these variables was clearly associated with NSS. Conclusions: As a group, OCD patients are characterized by increased rates of NSS, compared with healthy controls. However, their origins and potential clinical importance remain to be clarified. Future directions for research are discussed

Síndrome de Marfan. Presentación de un caso

El síndrome de Marfan es una enfermedad genética autosómica dominante del tejido conectivo, caracterizada por una combinación variable de manifestaciones cardiovasculares, músculo-esqueléticas y oftalmológicas. A pesar del descubrimiento de las mutaciones causales, su diagnóstico resulta complejo, al exhibir una gran diversidad en su presentación clínica y carecer de características patognomónicas. El diagnóstico actual de síndrome de Marfan se basa en una serie de criterios clínicos y genéticos denominados Criterios Gante revisados. Se describe el caso de una paciente de 44 años de edad, con antecedentes de luxación del cristalino, miopía y escoliosis, sin antecedentes patológicos familiares y que cumplió con los criterios diagnósticos actuales. Se sugiere la pesquisa etiológica de afecciones como luxación del cristalino y escoliosis, por parte de las especialidades correspondientes, como traducción orgánica de una enfermedad sistémica como el síndrome de Marfan.</p

Effectiveness of multimodal treatment for young people with body dysmorphic disorder in two specialist clinics

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) typically originates in adolescence and is associated with considerable adversity. Evidence-based treatments exist but research on clinical outcomes in naturalistic settings is extremely scarce. We evaluated the short- and long-term outcomes of a large cohort of adolescents with BDD receiving specialist multimodal treatment and examined predictors of symptom improvement. We followed 140 young people (age range 10-18) with a diagnosis of BDD treated at two national and specialist outpatient clinics in Stockholm, Sweden (n=96) and London, England (n=44), between January 2015 and April 2021. Participants received multimodal treatment consisting of cognitive behaviour therapy and, in 72% of cases, medication (primarily selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). Data were collected at baseline, post-treatment, and 3, 6, and 12 months after treatment. The primary outcome measure was the clinician-rated Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale Modified for BDD, Adolescent version (BDD-YBOCS-A). Secondary outcomes included self-reported measures of BDD symptoms, depressive symptoms, and global functioning. Mixed-effects regression models showed that BDD-YBOCS-A scores decreased significantly from baseline to post-treatment (coefficient [95% confidence interval]=-16.33 [-17.90 to -14.76], p<0.001; within-group effect size (Cohen’s d)=2.08 (95% confidence interval, 1.81 to 2.35). At the end of the treatment, 79% of the participants were classified as responders and 59% as full or partial remitters. BDD symptoms continued to improve throughout the follow-up. Improvement was also seen on all secondary outcome measures. Linear regression models identified baseline BDD symptom severity as a predictor of treatment outcome at post-treatment, but no consistent predictors were found at the 12-month follow-up. To conclude, multimodal treatment for adolescent BDD is effective in both the short- and long-term when provided flexibly within a specialist setting. Considering the high personal and societal costs of BDD, specialist care should be made more widely available

Four main virotypes among extended-spectrum-β-lactamase-producing isolates of Escherichia coli O25b:H4-B2-ST131: bacterial, epidemiological, and clinical characteristics

A total of 1,021 extended-spectrum- -lactamase-producing Escherichia coli (ESBLEC) isolates obtained in 2006 during a Spanish national survey conducted in 44 hospitals were analyzed for the presence of the O25b:H4-B2-ST131 (sequence type 131) clonal group. Overall, 195 (19%) O25b-ST131 isolates were detected, with prevalence rates ranging from 0% to 52% per hospital. Molecular characterization of 130 representative O25b-ST131 isolates showed that 96 (74%) were positive for CTX-M-15, 15 (12%) for CTX-M-14, 9 (7%) for SHV-12, 6 (5%) for CTX-M-9, 5 (4%) for CTX-M-32, and 1 (0.7%) each for CTX-M-3 and the new ESBL enzyme CTX-M-103. The 130 O25b-ST131 isolates exhibited relatively high virulence scores (mean, 14.4 virulence genes). Although the virulence profiles of the O25b-ST131 isolates were fairly homogeneous, they could be classified into four main virotypes based on the presence or absence of four distinctive virulence genes: virotypes A (22%) (afa FM955459 positive, iroN negative, ibeA negative, sat positive or negative), B (31%) (afa FM955459 negative, iroN positive, ibeA negative, sat positive or negative), C (32%) (afa FM955459 negative, iroN negative, ibeA negative, sat positive), and D (13%) (afa FM955459 negative, iroN positive or negative, ibeA positive, sat positive or negative). The four virotypes were also identified in other countries, with virotype C being overrepresented internationally. Correspondingly, an analysis of XbaI macrorestriction profiles revealed four major clusters, which were largely virotype specific. Certain epidemiological and clinical features corresponded with the virotype. Statistically significant virotype-specific associations included, for virotype B, older age and a lower frequency of infection (versus colonization), for virotype C, a higher frequency of infection, and for virotype D, younger age and community-acquired infections. In isolates of the O25b:H4-B2-ST131 clonal group, these findings uniquely define four main virotypes, which are internationally distributed, correspond with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) profiles, and exhibit distinctive clinical-epidemiological association

Stress related disorders and subsequent risk of life threatening infections: population based sibling controlled cohort study.

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked DownloadOBJECTIVE: To assess whether severe psychiatric reactions to trauma and other adversities are associated with subsequent risk of life threatening infections. DESIGN: Population and sibling matched cohort study. SETTING: Swedish population. PARTICIPANTS: 144 919 individuals with stress related disorders (post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), acute stress reaction, adjustment disorder, and other stress reactions) identified from 1987 to 2013 compared with 184 612 full siblings of individuals with a diagnosed stress related disorder and 1 449 190 matched individuals without such a diagnosis from the general population. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: A first inpatient or outpatient visit with a primary diagnosis of severe infections with high mortality rates (ie, sepsis, endocarditis, and meningitis or other central nervous system infections) from the Swedish National Patient Register, and deaths from these infections or infections of any origin from the Cause of Death Register. After controlling for multiple confounders, Cox models were used to estimate hazard ratios of these life threatening infections. RESULTS: The average age at diagnosis of a stress related disorder was 37 years (55 541, 38.3% men). During a mean follow-up of eight years, the incidence of life threatening infections per 1000 person years was 2.9 in individuals with a stress related disorder, 1.7 in siblings without a diagnosis, and 1.3 in matched individuals without a diagnosis. Compared with full siblings without a diagnosis of a stress related disorder, individuals with such a diagnosis were at increased risk of life threatening infections (hazard ratio for any stress related disorder was 1.47 (95% confidence intervals1.37 to 1.58) and for PTSD was 1.92 (1.46 to 2.52)). Corresponding estimates in the population based analysis were similar (1.58 (1.51 to 1.65) for any stress related disorder, P=0.09 for difference between sibling and population based comparison, and 1.95 (1.66 to 2.28) for PTSD, P=0.92 for difference). Stress related disorders were associated with all studied life threatening infections, with the highest relative risk observed for meningitis (sibling based analysis 1.63 (1.23 to 2.16)) and endocarditis (1.57 (1.08 to 2.30)). Younger age at diagnosis of a stress related disorder and the presence of psychiatric comorbidity, especially substance use disorders, were associated with higher hazard ratios, whereas use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in the first year after diagnosis of a stress related disorder was associated with attenuated hazard ratios. CONCLUSION: In the Swedish population, stress related disorders were associated with a subsequent risk of life threatening infections, after controlling for familial background and physical or psychiatric comorbidities.Grant of Excellence, Icelandic Research Fund European Research Council (ERC) Karolinska Institutet Swedish Research Council through the Swedish Initiative for Research on Microdata in the Social And Medical Sciences (SIMSAM) West China Hospital, Sichuan University (1.3.5 Project for Disciplines of Excellence