Category: Nevin Manimala

Braz J Psychiatry. 2022 Jul 11. doi: 10.47626/1516-4446-2022-2498. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Children of depressed mothers are at risk of developing mental health problems. We sought to determine whether treatment for maternal depression delivered by community health workers (CHW) would decrease behavioral/emotional symptoms in their child. An intervention treating maternal depressive symptoms in a low-middle-income country can have a high global impact.

METHODS: CHW were trained to deliver a psychosocial intervention for mothers with depression in a primary care setting. 49 mothers and 60 children were assessed pre-intervention, post-intervention, and at a 6-months follow-up. Child behavioral/emotional symptoms were evaluated by type of change in maternal depressive symptoms: remission and response.

RESULTS: An overall decrease in maternal depressive symptoms from baseline to post-intervention and 6-month follow-up were found. Remission and response of maternal depression was associated with better outcomes related to child´s behavioral/emotional symptoms at the 6-month follow-up (p = 0.0247, Cohen’s d: 0.76; p = 0.0224, Cohen’s f: 0.44) but not at post-intervention (p = 0.1636, Cohen’s d: 0.48; p = 0.0720, Cohen’s f: 0.33).

CONCLUSION: Maternal depression improvement was related to their child’s decreased behavioral/emotional symptoms. Our results suggest that interventions addressing maternal depression in primary care is a viable strategy to prevent behavioral/emotional symptoms in the next generation.

PMID:35816635 | DOI:10.47626/1516-4446-2022-2498

Rev Med Inst Mex Seguro Soc. 2022 Jul 4;60(4):363-370.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Usually hemoglobin and hematocrit are obtained from peripheral venous blood samples processed in equipment for hematic biometry. These parameters can also be determined from arterial samples processed on blood gas equipment. Its variability when using arterial samples and this equipment is unknown, in addition, if the lack of knowledge of this variability affects clinical decisions.

OBJECTIVE: To know the variability of hemoglobin and hematocrit from arterial blood samples processed in blood gas equipment.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Analytic cross design. Consecutive subjects with stable cardiopulmonary disease were blindly studied. The samples were obtained at the same time for analysis in both equipments. Variability was analyzed with Bland-Altman descriptive statistic and its magnitude with the intraclass correlation coefficient.

RESULTS: Two hundred of blood samples from 50 patients were studied, 31 (62%) women, age 62 ± 14 years old, body mass index 30.11 ± 5.69 Kg/m2. The main comparison was peripheral venous blood sample processed in laboratory equipment (SYSMEX) vs. arterial sample on blood gas equipment (GEM). The mean difference (bias) and intraclass correlation coefficient for hemoglobin were: 0.12 (-1.45, 1.23) and 0.95 (0.91, 0.97); for the hematocrit -4.4 (-0.4, 8.54), and 0.72 (0.51, 0.84).

CONCLUSIONS: The mean difference and bias for hemoglobin was close to 0; the hematocrit was higher. Hemoglobin from arterial samples processed in blood gas equipment can be used to make clinical decisions.

PMID:35816622

Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2022 Jul 11. doi: 10.1165/rcmb.2021-0326OC. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Ozone (O3)-induced respiratory toxicity varies considerably within the human population and across inbred mouse strains, indicative of gene-environment interactions (GxE). Though previous studies have identified several quantitative trait loci (QTL) and candidate genes underlying responses to O3 exposure, precise mechanisms of susceptibility remain incompletely described. We sought to update our understanding of the genetic architecture of O3 responsiveness using the Collaborative Cross (CC) recombinant inbred mouse panel. We evaluated hallmark O3-induced inflammation and injury phenotypes in 56 CC strains after exposure to filtered air or 2 ppm O3, and performed focused genetic analysis of variation in lung injury, as reflected by protein in lung lavage fluid. Strain-dependent responses to O3 were clear, and QTL mapping revealed two novel loci on Chromosomes 10 (peak: 26.2 Mb; 80% CI: 24.6-43.6 Mb) and 15 (peak: 47.1 Mb; 80% CI: 40.2-54.9 Mb), the latter surpassing the 95% significance threshold. At the Chr. 15 locus, C57BL/6J and CAST/EiJ founder haplotypes were associated with higher lung injury responses compared to all other CC founder haplotypes. With further statistical analysis and a weight of evidence approach, we delimited the Chr. 15 QTL to a ~2 Mb region containing 21 genes (10 protein coding) and nominated three candidate genes, namely Oxr1, Rspo2, and Angpt1. Gene and protein expression data further supported Oxr1 and Angpt1 as priority candidate genes. In summary, we have shown that O3-induced lung injury is modulated by genetic variation, identified two high priority candidate genes, and demonstrated the value of the CC for detecting GxE.

PMID:35816602 | DOI:10.1165/rcmb.2021-0326OC

Psychol Trauma. 2022 Jul 11. doi: 10.1037/tra0001314. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study identifies the psychological mechanism that predicts happiness in mass trauma times by testing a model that includes coping styles, anxiety, stress, and function.

METHOD: The survey comprised 509 respondents who answered questions about their demographic characteristics and ranked their happiness, stress, anxiety, function, and coping strategies. Structural equation modeling was used to test the model’s goodness-of-fit analysis.

RESULTS: The theoretical model was a good fit for predicting happiness during COVID-19 but not for predicting general happiness. Problem-focused coping did not contribute to function. The final model includes emotion-focused coping, anxiety, stress, and function and predicts 37% of happiness during COVID-19. The statistically significant correlations include a strong, positive correlation between anxiety and stress (r = .71, p < .001); a weak, positive correlation between emotional coping and function (r = .24, p < .001); and moderate, negative correlations between anxiety and function (r = -.41, p < .001) and between function and stress (r = .24, p < .001). Function was positively associated with happiness (r = .39, p < .001), while stress was negatively associated with happiness (r = -.32, p < .001).

CONCLUSIONS: This model indicates that anxiety, stress, function, and emotion-focused coping contribute to predicting happiness during mass trauma events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

PMID:35816583 | DOI:10.1037/tra0001314

Hosp Top. 2022 Jul 11:1-12. doi: 10.1080/00185868.2022.2097970. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

India experienced a growing burden of elderly population associated with both physical and mental health challenges. Among the mental health problems, dementia, depression, anxiety and sleep disorder are of significant concern. This present study investigates the association between the types of living arrangement and the mental health of elderly in India. Comparison has been done between empty nest and non-empty nest elderlies. Data from first wave of Longitudinal Aging Study in India (2017-18) has been used. It is a nationally representative data which collected data from over 72,000 individuals aged 45 and above and their spouses irrespective of age. We used the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) to measure depression while living arrangement was self-reported by the respondents. Univariate and multivariate analyses were carried out to find significant association of the outcome and independent variables. Among the total elderlies, 11% were from empty nest single households, 20% were from empty nest couple households and others were from the non-empty households. At national level, 30% elderly suffered from depression. It was more among the elderly of empty nest single households (43%), compared to elderly of empty nest couple households (30%) and non-empty nest households (28%). Gender, socio economic status, self-rated health status, financial stability, place of residence plays a crucial role in the experience of depression among the elderlies. Results portray that household structure, especially living arrangement and familial support in old age can be associated with the overall health and wellbeing, more specifically depressive symptoms among the elderly.

PMID:35816557 | DOI:10.1080/00185868.2022.2097970

PLoS One. 2022 Jul 11;17(7):e0271341. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0271341. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The majority of suicide decedents have had contact with health services close to their death. Some of these contacts include admissions to hospitals for physical and mental health conditions, injury and intentional self-harm. This study aims to establish and quantify the risks of suicide following hospital admission for a range of mental and physical illnesses.

METHODS: A retrospective analysis was carried out on existing morbidity and mortality data in Victoria. Data was extracted from the Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset and the Victorian Suicide Register. Unplanned hospital admissions among adult patients (> = 15 years of age), discharged between 01 January 2011 and 31 December 2016 (2,430,154 admissions), were selected. Standardised Mortality Ratios were calculated for conditions with at least five linked suicides within one year of discharge from hospital.

RESULTS: Forty-three conditions defined at the three-digit level of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision, were associated with at least five subsequent suicides (within one year of hospital discharge); 14 physical illnesses, 5 symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, 12 mental health conditions, and 12 types of injury and poisonings. The highest Standardised Mortality Ratios were for poisonings (range; 27.8 to 140.0) and intentional self-harm (78.8), followed by mental health conditions (range; 15.5 to 72.9), symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings (range; 1.4 to 43.2) and physical illnesses (range; 0.7 to 4.9).

CONCLUSIONS: Hospital admissions related to mental health conditions and injury and poisonings including self-harm were associated with a greater risk of suicide than physical conditions. Mental health conditions such as depressive episodes, personality disorders and psychotic episodes, injuries caused by intentional-self-harm and poisonings by certain types of drugs, carbon monoxide and hormones such as insulin can be prioritised for targeting suicide prevention initiatives for persons discharged from hospitals.

PMID:35816509 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0271341

PLoS Comput Biol. 2022 Jul 11;18(7):e1010284. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010284. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Concerns have been raised about the use of relative abundance data derived from next generation sequencing as a proxy for absolute abundances. For example, in the differential abundance setting, compositional effects in relative abundance data may give rise to spurious differences (false positives) when considered from the absolute perspective. In practice however, relative abundances are often transformed by renormalization strategies intended to compensate for these effects and the scope of the practical problem remains unclear. We used simulated data to explore the consistency of differential abundance calling on renormalized relative abundances versus absolute abundances and find that, while overall consistency is high, with a median sensitivity (true positive rates) of 0.91 and specificity (1-false positive rates) of 0.89, consistency can be much lower where there is widespread change in the abundance of features across conditions. We confirm these findings on a large number of real data sets drawn from 16S metabarcoding, expression array, bulk RNA-seq, and single-cell RNA-seq experiments, where data sets with the greatest change between experimental conditions are also those with the highest false positive rates. Finally, we evaluate the predictive utility of summary features of relative abundance data themselves. Estimates of sparsity and the prevalence of feature-level change in relative abundance data give reasonable predictions of discrepancy in differential abundance calling in simulated data and can provide useful bounds for worst-case outcomes in real data.

PMID:35816553 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010284

PLoS One. 2022 Jul 11;17(7):e0266208. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0266208. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

There is a growing interest in developing new molecular markers of heart disease in young dogs affected by myxomatous mitral valve disease. The study aimed to measure 3 circulating microRNAs and their application as potential biomarkers in the plasma of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels with early asymptomatic myxomatous mitral valve disease. The hypothesis is that healthy Cavalier King Charles Spaniels have different microRNA expression profiles than affected dogs in American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) stage B1. The profiles can differ within the same class among subjects of different ages. This is a prospective cross-sectional study. Thirty-three Cavalier King Charles Spaniels in ACVIM stage B1 were divided into three groups (11 younger than 3 years, 11 older than 3 years and younger than 7 years, and 11 older than 7 years), and 11 healthy (ACVIM stage A) dogs of the same breed were included as the control group. Three circulating microRNAs (miR-1-3p, miR30b-5p, and miR-128-3p) were measured by quantitative real-time PCR using TaqMan® probes. Diagnostic performance was evaluated by calculating the area under the receiver operating curve (AUC). MiR-30b-5p was significantly higher in ACVIM B1 dogs than in ACVIM A subjects, and the area under the receiver operating curve was 0.79. According to the age of dogs, the amount of miR-30b-5p was statistically significantly higher in group B1<3y (2.3 folds, P = 0.034), B1 3-7y (2.2 folds, P = 0.028), and B1>7y (2.7 folds, P = 0.018) than in group A. The area under the receiver operating curves were fair in discriminating between group B1<3y and group A (AUC 0.780), between B1 3-7y and A (AUC 0.78), and good in discriminating between group B1>7y and A (AUC 0.822). Identifying dogs with early asymptomatic myxomatous mitral valve disease through the evaluation of miR-30b-5p represents an intriguing possibility that certainly merits further research. Studies enrolling a larger number of dogs with preclinical stages of myxomatous mitral valve disease are needed to expand further and validate conclusively the preliminary findings from this report.

PMID:35816500 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0266208

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2022 Jul 11;16(7):e0010599. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010599. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Gambiense human African trypanosomiasis (gHAT) has been targeted for elimination of transmission (EoT) to humans by 2030. Whilst this ambitious goal is rapidly approaching, there remain fundamental questions about the presence of non-human animal transmission cycles and their potential role in slowing progress towards, or even preventing, EoT. In this study we focus on the country with the most gHAT disease burden, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and use mathematical modelling to assess whether animals may contribute to transmission in specific regions, and if so, how their presence could impact the likelihood and timing of EoT. By fitting two model variants-one with, and one without animal transmission-to the human case data from 2000-2016 we estimate model parameters for 158 endemic health zones of the DRC. We evaluate the statistical support for each model variant in each health zone and infer the contribution of animals to overall transmission and how this could impact predicted time to EoT. We conclude that there are 24/158 health zones where there is substantial to decisive statistical support for some animal transmission. However-even in these regions-we estimate that animals would be extremely unlikely to maintain transmission on their own. Animal transmission could hamper progress towards EoT in some settings, with projections under continuing interventions indicating that the number of health zones expected to achieve EoT by 2030 reduces from 68/158 to 61/158 if animal transmission is included in the model. With supplementary vector control (at a modest 60% tsetse reduction) added to medical screening and treatment interventions, the predicted number of health zones meeting the goal increases to 147/158 for the model including animal transmission. This is due to the impact of vector reduction on transmission to and from all hosts.

PMID:35816487 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pntd.0010599

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2022 Jul 11;16(7):e0010563. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010563. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Great progress has been made toward the elimination of trachoma as a public-health problem. Mathematical and statistical models have been used to forecast when the program will attain the goal of the elimination of active trachoma, defined as prevalence of trachomatous inflammation-follicular in 1-9 year olds (TF1-9) <5%. Here we use program data to create an empirical model predicting the year of attaining global elimination of TF1-9.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We calculated the mean number of years (95% CI) observed for an implementation unit (IU) to move from a baseline TF1-9 prevalence ≥5% to the elimination threshold, based on the region (Ethiopia vs. non-Ethiopia) and baseline prevalence category. Ethiopia IUs had significantly different rates of reaching the TF1-9 elimination threshold after a trachoma impact survey (TIS) compared to non-Ethiopia IUs across all baseline categories. We used those estimates to predict when remaining active trachoma-endemic IUs (TF1-9 ≥5%) would have their last round of mass drug administration (MDA) based on the mean number of years required and number of MDA rounds already completed. Our model predicts that elimination of TF1-9 will be achieved in 2028 in Ethiopia (95% CI: 2026-2033) and 2029 outside of Ethiopia (95% CI: 2023-2034), with some IUs in East Africa predicted to be the last requiring MDA globally.

CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our empirical estimate is similar to those resulting from previous susceptible-infectious-susceptible (SIS) and mathematical models, suggesting that the forecast achievement of TF1-9 elimination is realistic with the caveat that although disease elimination progress can be predicted for most IUs, there is an important minority of IUs that is not declining or has not yet started trachoma elimination activities. These IUs represent an important barrier to the timely global elimination of active trachoma.

PMID:35816486 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pntd.0010563