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Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals are more than twice as likely to experience anxiety and depression compared with heterosexuals. Minority stress theory posits that stigma and discrimination contribute to chronic stress, potentially affecting clinical treatment. We compared psychological therapy outcomes between LGB and heterosexual patients by gender.
Methods
Retrospective cohort data were obtained from seven NHS talking therapy services in London, from April 2013 to December 2023. Of 100,389 patients, 94,239 reported sexual orientation, 7,422 identifying as LGB. The primary outcome was reliable recovery from anxiety and depression. Secondary outcomes were reliable improvement, depression and anxiety severity, therapy attrition, and engagement. Analyses were stratified by gender and employed multilevel regression models, adjusting for sociodemographic and clinical covariates.
Results
After adjustment, gay men had higher odds of reliable recovery (OR: 1.23, 95% CI: 1.13–1.34) and reliable improvement (OR: 1.16, 95% CI: 1.06–1.28) than heterosexual men, with lower attrition (OR: 0.88, 95% CI: 0.80–0.97) and greater reductions in depression (MD: 0.51, 95% CI: 0.28–0.74) and anxiety (MD: 0.45, 95% CI: 0.25–0.65). Bisexual men (OR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.54–0.83) and bisexual women (OR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.77–0.93) had lower attrition than heterosexuals. Lesbian and bisexual women, and bisexual men, attended slightly more sessions (MD: 0.02–0.03, 95% CI: 0.01–0.04) than heterosexual patients. No other differences were observed.
Conclusions
Despite significant mental health burdens and stressors, LGB individuals had similar, if not marginally better, outcomes and engagement with psychological therapy compared with heterosexual patients.
Recommendations for immunisation practices in children with single ventricle CHD are lacking. A survey of 53 heart centres received responses from 40 centres (33 complete and 7 partial) revealing variability in immunisation recommendations. Only 11% have a written protocol. Immunisations were delayed before cardiopulmonary bypass in 94% (32/34) and after cardiopulmonary bypass in 97% (30/31), with 34% (13/38) re-dosing some immunisations post cardiopulmonary bypass. Further research is needed to develop guidelines.
It remains unclear which individuals with subthreshold depression benefit most from psychological intervention, and what long-term effects this has on symptom deterioration, response and remission.
Aims
To synthesise psychological intervention benefits in adults with subthreshold depression up to 2 years, and explore participant-level effect-modifiers.
Method
Randomised trials comparing psychological intervention with inactive control were identified via systematic search. Authors were contacted to obtain individual participant data (IPD), analysed using Bayesian one-stage meta-analysis. Treatment–covariate interactions were added to examine moderators. Hierarchical-additive models were used to explore treatment benefits conditional on baseline Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) values.
Results
IPD of 10 671 individuals (50 studies) could be included. We found significant effects on depressive symptom severity up to 12 months (standardised mean-difference [s.m.d.] = −0.48 to −0.27). Effects could not be ascertained up to 24 months (s.m.d. = −0.18). Similar findings emerged for 50% symptom reduction (relative risk = 1.27–2.79), reliable improvement (relative risk = 1.38–3.17), deterioration (relative risk = 0.67–0.54) and close-to-symptom-free status (relative risk = 1.41–2.80). Among participant-level moderators, only initial depression and anxiety severity were highly credible (P > 0.99). Predicted treatment benefits decreased with lower symptom severity but remained minimally important even for very mild symptoms (s.m.d. = −0.33 for PHQ-9 = 5).
Conclusions
Psychological intervention reduces the symptom burden in individuals with subthreshold depression up to 1 year, and protects against symptom deterioration. Benefits up to 2 years are less certain. We find strong support for intervention in subthreshold depression, particularly with PHQ-9 scores ≥ 10. For very mild symptoms, scalable treatments could be an attractive option.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a highly prevalent psychiatric condition that frequently originates in early development and is associated with a variety of functional impairments. Despite a large functional neuroimaging literature on ADHD, our understanding of the neural basis of this disorder remains limited, and existing primary studies on the topic include somewhat divergent results.
Objectives
The present meta-analysis aims to advance our understanding of the neural basis of ADHD by identifying the most statistically robust patterns of abnormal neural activation throughout the whole-brain in individuals diagnosed with ADHD compared to age-matched healthy controls.
Methods
We conducted a meta-analysis of task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) activation studies of ADHD. This included, according to PRISMA guidelines, a comprehensive PubMed search and predetermined inclusion criteria as well as two independent coding teams who evaluated studies and included all task-based, whole-brain, fMRI activation studies that compared participants diagnosed with ADHD to age-matched healthy controls. We then performed multilevel kernel density analysis (MKDA) a well-established, whole-brain, voxelwise approach that quantitatively combines existing primary fMRI studies, with ensemble thresholding (p<0.05-0.0001) and multiple comparisons correction.
Results
Participants diagnosed with ADHD (N=1,550), relative to age-matched healthy controls (N=1,340), exhibited statistically significant (p<0.05-0.0001; FWE-corrected) patterns of abnormal activation in multiple brains of the cerebral cortex and basal ganglia across a variety of cognitive control tasks.
Conclusions
This study advances our understanding of the neural basis of ADHD and may aid in the development of new brain-based clinical interventions as well as diagnostic tools and treatment matching protocols for patients with ADHD. Future studies should also investigate the similarities and differences in neural signatures between ADHD and other highly comorbid psychiatric disorders.
Understanding characteristics of healthcare personnel (HCP) with SARS-CoV-2 infection supports the development and prioritization of interventions to protect this important workforce. We report detailed characteristics of HCP who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 from April 20, 2020 through December 31, 2021.
Methods:
CDC collaborated with Emerging Infections Program sites in 10 states to interview HCP with SARS-CoV-2 infection (case-HCP) about their demographics, underlying medical conditions, healthcare roles, exposures, personal protective equipment (PPE) use, and COVID-19 vaccination status. We grouped case-HCP by healthcare role. To describe residential social vulnerability, we merged geocoded HCP residential addresses with CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) values at the census tract level. We defined highest and lowest SVI quartiles as high and low social vulnerability, respectively.
Results:
Our analysis included 7,531 case-HCP. Most case-HCP with roles as certified nursing assistant (CNA) (444, 61.3%), medical assistant (252, 65.3%), or home healthcare worker (HHW) (225, 59.5%) reported their race and ethnicity as either non-Hispanic Black or Hispanic. More than one third of HHWs (166, 45.2%), CNAs (283, 41.7%), and medical assistants (138, 37.9%) reported a residential address in the high social vulnerability category. The proportion of case-HCP who reported using recommended PPE at all times when caring for patients with COVID-19 was lowest among HHWs compared with other roles.
Conclusions:
To mitigate SARS-CoV-2 infection risk in healthcare settings, infection prevention, and control interventions should be specific to HCP roles and educational backgrounds. Additional interventions are needed to address high social vulnerability among HHWs, CNAs, and medical assistants.
This article examines the development, early operation and subsequent failure of the Tot-Kolowa Red Cross irrigation scheme in Kenya’s Kerio Valley. Initially conceived as a technical solution to address regional food insecurity, the scheme aimed to scale up food production through the implementation of a fixed pipe irrigation system and the provision of agricultural inputs for cash cropping. A series of unfolding circumstances, however, necessitated numerous modifications to the original design as the project became increasingly entangled with deep and complex histories of land use patterns, resource allocation and conflict. Failure to understand the complexity of these dynamics ultimately led to the project’s collapse as the region spiralled into a period of significant unrest. In tracing these events, we aim to foreground the lived realities of imposed development, including both positive and negative responses to the scheme’s participatory obligations and its wider impact on community resilience.
We compute $ku^*\left(K\!\left({\mathbb{Z}}_p,2\right)\right)$ and $ku_*\left(K\!\left({\mathbb{Z}}_p,2\right)\right)$, the connective $KU$-cohomology and connective $KU$-homology groups of the mod-$p$ Eilenberg–MacLane space $K\!\left({\mathbb{Z}}_p,2\right)$, using the Adams spectral sequence. We obtain a striking interaction between $h_0$-extensions and exotic extensions. The mod-$p$ connective $KU$-cohomology groups, computed elsewhere, are needed in order to establish higher differentials and exotic extensions in the integral groups.
Depression and anxiety are common and highly comorbid, and their comorbidity is associated with poorer outcomes posing clinical and public health concerns. We evaluated the polygenic contribution to comorbid depression and anxiety, and to each in isolation.
Methods
Diagnostic codes were extracted from electronic health records for four biobanks [N = 177 865 including 138 632 European (77.9%), 25 612 African (14.4%), and 13 621 Hispanic (7.7%) ancestry participants]. The outcome was a four-level variable representing the depression/anxiety diagnosis group: neither, depression-only, anxiety-only, and comorbid. Multinomial regression was used to test for association of depression and anxiety polygenic risk scores (PRSs) with the outcome while adjusting for principal components of ancestry.
Results
In total, 132 960 patients had neither diagnosis (74.8%), 16 092 depression-only (9.0%), 13 098 anxiety-only (7.4%), and 16 584 comorbid (9.3%). In the European meta-analysis across biobanks, both PRSs were higher in each diagnosis group compared to controls. Notably, depression-PRS (OR 1.20 per s.d. increase in PRS; 95% CI 1.18–1.23) and anxiety-PRS (OR 1.07; 95% CI 1.05–1.09) had the largest effect when the comorbid group was compared with controls. Furthermore, the depression-PRS was significantly higher in the comorbid group than the depression-only group (OR 1.09; 95% CI 1.06–1.12) and the anxiety-only group (OR 1.15; 95% CI 1.11–1.19) and was significantly higher in the depression-only group than the anxiety-only group (OR 1.06; 95% CI 1.02–1.09), showing a genetic risk gradient across the conditions and the comorbidity.
Conclusions
This study suggests that depression and anxiety have partially independent genetic liabilities and the genetic vulnerabilities to depression and anxiety make distinct contributions to comorbid depression and anxiety.
This quality improvement project assessed the outcomes of telephone consultations for ENT patients in order to identify areas where telephone consultations may be useful in the long term.
Method
New ENT patient appointments in May 2019 and May 2020 were reviewed. Total outcomes as well as subspecialty-specific and presentation-specific outcomes were compared for telephone versus face-to-face consultations.
Results
There were 638 consultations in total (465 in 2019 and 173 in 2020). Following telephone consultations, more patients were followed up and fewer patients were listed for surgery or discharged. Overall outcomes for subspecialties followed the general trend, albeit with a few variations.
Conclusion
Lack of clinical examination in telephone consultations likely affects confidence in making a diagnosis and therefore discharging or listing patients for surgery. Nevertheless, looking at specialty-specific and presentation-specific data, there may be a role for telephone consultations in selected patients.
We detected no correlation between standardized antimicrobial administration ratios (SAARs) and healthcare facility-onset Clostridioides difficile infection (HO-CDI) rates in 102 acute-care Veterans Affairs medical centers over 16 months. SAARs may be useful for investigating trends in local antimicrobial use, but no ratio threshold demarcated HO-CDI risk.
Implementation assessment plans are crucial for clinical trials to achieve their full potential. Without a proactive plan to implement trial results, it can take decades for one-fifth of effective interventions to be adopted into routine care settings. The Veterans Health Administration Office of Research and Development is undergoing a systematic transformation to embed implementation planning in research protocols through the Cooperative Studies Program, its flagship clinical research program. This manuscript has two objectives: 1) to introduce an Implementation Planning Assessment (IPA) Tool that any clinical trialist may use to facilitate post-trial implementation of interventions found to be effective and 2) to provide a case study demonstrating the IPA Tool’s use. The IPA Tool encourages study designers to initially consider rigorous data collection to maximize acceptability of the intervention by end-users. It also helps identify and prepare potential interested parties at local and national leadership levels to ensure, upon trial completion, interventions can be integrated into programs, technologies, and policies in a sustainable way. The IPA Tool can alleviate some of the overwhelming nature of implementation science by providing a practical guide based on implementation science principles for researchers desiring to scale up and spread effective, clinical trial-tested interventions to benefit patients.
Policies that promote conversion of antibiotics from intravenous to oral route administration are considered “low hanging fruit” for hospital antimicrobial stewardship programs. We developed a simple metric based on digestive days of therapy divided by total days of therapy for targeted agents and a method for hospital comparisons. External comparisons may help identify opportunities for improving prospective implementation.
OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) are critical to multiple myeloma (MM) disease control. IMiDs act by inducing Cereblon-dependent degradation of IKZF1 and IKZF3, which leads to IRF4 and MYC downregulation (collectively termed the “Ikaros axis”). We therefore hypothesized that IMiD treatment fails to downregulate the Ikaros axis in IMiD resistant MM. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: To measure IMiD-induced Ikaros axis downregulation, we designed an intracellular flow cytometry assay that measured relative protein levels of IKZF1, IKZF3, IRF4 and MYC in MM cells following ex vivo treatment with the IMiD Pomalidomide (Pom). We established this assay using Pom-sensitive parental and dose-escalated Pom-resistant MM cell lines before assessing Ikaros axis downregulation in CD38+CD138+ MM cells in patient samples (bone marrow aspirates). To assess the Ikaros axis in the context of MM intratumoral heterogeneity, we used a 35-marker mass cytometry panel to simultaneously characterize MM subpopulations in patient samples. Lastly, we determined ex vivo drug sensitivity in patient samples via flow cytometry. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Our hypothesis was supported in MM cell lines, as resistant lines showed no IMiD-induced decrease in any Ikaros axis proteins. However, when assessed in patient samples, Pom treatment caused a significant decrease in IKZF1, IKZF3 and IRF4 regardless of IMiD sensitivity. Mass cytometry in patient samples revealed that individual Ikaros axis proteins were differentially expressed between subpopulations. When correlating this with ex vivo Pom sensitivity of MM subpopulations, we observed that low IKZF1 and IKZF3 corresponded to Pom resistance. Interestingly, most of these resistant populations still expressed MYC. We therefore assessed whether IMiD resistant MM was MYC dependent by treating with MYCi975. In 88% (7/8) of patient samples tested, IMiD resistant MM cells were sensitive to MYC inhibition. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: While our findings did not support our initial hypothesis, our data suggest a mechanism where MYC expression becomes Ikaros axis independent to drive IMiD resistance, and resistant MM is still dependent on MYC. This suggests targeting MYC directly or indirectly via a mechanism to be determined may be an effective strategy to eradicate IMiD resistant MM.
Seed retention, and ultimately seed shatter, are extremely important for the efficacy of harvest weed seed control (HWSC) and are likely influenced by various agroecological and environmental factors. Field studies investigated seed-shattering phenology of 22 weed species across three soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]-producing regions in the United States. We further evaluated the potential drivers of seed shatter in terms of weather conditions, growing degree days, and plant biomass. Based on the results, weather conditions had no consistent impact on weed seed shatter. However, there was a positive correlation between individual weed plant biomass and delayed weed seed–shattering rates during harvest. This work demonstrates that HWSC can potentially reduce weed seedbank inputs of plants that have escaped early-season management practices and retained seed through harvest. However, smaller individuals of plants within the same population that shatter seed before harvest pose a risk of escaping early-season management and HWSC.
Micronutrients are important for normal cardiovascular function. They may play a role in the increased risk of cardiovascular disease observed in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and T2D-related heart failure. The aims of this study were to (1) examine micronutrient status in people with T2D v. healthy controls; (2) assess any changes following a nutritionally complete meal replacement plan (MRP) compared with routine care; (3) determine if any changes were associated with changes in cardiovascular structure/function. This was a secondary analysis of data from a prospective, randomised, open-label, blinded end-point trial of people with T2D, with a nested case–control [NCT02590822]. Anthropometrics, cardiac resonance imaging and fasting blood samples (to quantify vitamins B1, B6, B12, D and C; and iron and ferritin) were collected at baseline and 12 weeks following the MRP or routine care. Comparative data in healthy controls were collected at baseline. A total of eighty-three people with T2D and thirty-six healthy controls were compared at baseline; all had micronutrient status within reference ranges. Vitamin B1 was higher (148⋅9 v. 131⋅7; P 0⋅01) and B6 lower (37⋅3 v. 52⋅9; P 0⋅01) in T2D v. controls. All thirty participants randomised to routine care and twenty-four to the MRP completed the study. There was an increase in vitamins B1, B6, D and C following the MRP, which were not associated with changes in cardiovascular structure/function. In conclusion, changes in micronutrient status following the MRP were not independently associated with improvements in cardiovascular structure/function in people with T2D.
We present an overview of the Middle Ages Galaxy Properties with Integral Field Spectroscopy (MAGPI) survey, a Large Program on the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope. MAGPI is designed to study the physical drivers of galaxy transformation at a lookback time of 3–4 Gyr, during which the dynamical, morphological, and chemical properties of galaxies are predicted to evolve significantly. The survey uses new medium-deep adaptive optics aided Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) observations of fields selected from the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey, providing a wealth of publicly available ancillary multi-wavelength data. With these data, MAGPI will map the kinematic and chemical properties of stars and ionised gas for a sample of 60 massive (${>}7 \times 10^{10} {\mathrm{M}}_\odot$) central galaxies at $0.25 < z <0.35$ in a representative range of environments (isolated, groups and clusters). The spatial resolution delivered by MUSE with Ground Layer Adaptive Optics ($0.6-0.8$ arcsec FWHM) will facilitate a direct comparison with Integral Field Spectroscopy surveys of the nearby Universe, such as SAMI and MaNGA, and at higher redshifts using adaptive optics, for example, SINS. In addition to the primary (central) galaxy sample, MAGPI will deliver resolved and unresolved spectra for as many as 150 satellite galaxies at $0.25 < z <0.35$, as well as hundreds of emission-line sources at $z < 6$. This paper outlines the science goals, survey design, and observing strategy of MAGPI. We also present a first look at the MAGPI data, and the theoretical framework to which MAGPI data will be compared using the current generation of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations including EAGLE, Magneticum, HORIZON-AGN, and Illustris-TNG. Our results show that cosmological hydrodynamical simulations make discrepant predictions in the spatially resolved properties of galaxies at $z\approx 0.3$. MAGPI observations will place new constraints and allow for tangible improvements in galaxy formation theory.
The Subglacial Antarctic Lakes Scientific Access (SALSA) Project accessed Mercer Subglacial Lake using environmentally clean hot-water drilling to examine interactions among ice, water, sediment, rock, microbes and carbon reservoirs within the lake water column and underlying sediments. A ~0.4 m diameter borehole was melted through 1087 m of ice and maintained over ~10 days, allowing observation of ice properties and collection of water and sediment with various tools. Over this period, SALSA collected: 60 L of lake water and 10 L of deep borehole water; microbes >0.2 μm in diameter from in situ filtration of ~100 L of lake water; 10 multicores 0.32–0.49 m long; 1.0 and 1.76 m long gravity cores; three conductivity–temperature–depth profiles of borehole and lake water; five discrete depth current meter measurements in the lake and images of ice, the lake water–ice interface and lake sediments. Temperature and conductivity data showed the hydrodynamic character of water mixing between the borehole and lake after entry. Models simulating melting of the ~6 m thick basal accreted ice layer imply that debris fall-out through the ~15 m water column to the lake sediments from borehole melting had little effect on the stratigraphy of surficial sediment cores.
Maternal nutrition is critical in mammalian development, influencing the epigenetic reprogramming of gametes, embryos, and fetal programming. We evaluated the effects of different levels of sulfur (S) and cobalt (Co) in the maternal diet throughout the pre- and periconceptional periods on the biochemical and reproductive parameters of the donors and the DNA methylome of the progeny in Bos indicus cattle. The low-S/Co group differed from the control with respect to homocysteine, folic acid, B12, insulin growth factor 1, and glucose. The oocyte yield was lower in heifers from the low S/Co group than that in the control heifers. Embryos from the low-S/Co group exhibited 2320 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) across the genome compared with the control embryos. We also characterized candidate DMRs linked to the DNMT1 and DNMT3B genes in the blood and sperm cells of the adult progeny. A DMR located in DNMT1 that was identified in embryos remained differentially methylated in the sperm of the progeny from the low-S/Co group. Therefore, we associated changes in specific compounds in the maternal diet with DNA methylation modifications in the progeny. Our results help to elucidate the impact of maternal nutrition on epigenetic reprogramming in livestock, opening new avenues of research to study the effect of disturbed epigenetic patterns in early life on health and fertility in adulthood. Considering that cattle are physiologically similar to humans with respect to gestational length, our study may serve as a model for studies related to the developmental origin of health and disease in humans.
ABSTRACT IMPACT: Melanoma leptomeningeal disease (LMD) is a devastating subtype of central nervous system (CNS) metastatic disease that is associated with limited treatment options and an extremely poor prognosis, thus requiring the development of preclinical models of LMD for therapeutic development. OBJECTIVES/GOALS:
1. Develop an immunocompetent murine model of melanoma LMD with tumors bearing genetic mutations commonly found in patients, specifically BRAF(V600E)/PTEN-/-
2. Assess the safety of intrathecal (IT) immunotherapy, specifically anti-PD1 antibody (aPD1)
3. Evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of IT aPD1 checkpoint blockade in murine melanoma LMD METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: To develop BRAF(V600E)/PTEN-/- LMD models, we acquired BP, D4M, and D4M-UV2 (irradiated) murine melanoma cell lines and luciferase-tagged them. 1.5x10^4 cells were suspended in 10 uL serum-free media and injected into the cisterna magna of female C57BL/6 mice. Brain and spinal cord were harvested for histologic assessment once mice were moribund. To assess safety of IT aPD1, we injected IT control IgG or IT aPD1 (13 ug, 26 ug, 39 ug) and monitored weights or harvested at days 7 or 14 for IHC staining of inflammation markers. To evaluate therapeutic efficacy of IT aPD1, BP cells were directly injected as above. After 3 days, mice underwent imaging to confirm tumor uptake and randomization to receive 13 ug IT control IgG or aPD1 once + 200 ug systemic (Sys) control IgG or aPD1 (days 0, 3, and 5), and then monitored for survival. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: For LMD development, all mice survived cisternal injection of BP, D4M, and D4M-UV2 cells and median survival was 17, 19, and 30 days, respectively. Presence of leptomeningeal deposits was confirmed for all tumor-bearing mice by IHC for MART1. For safety of IT aPD1, all mice survived the procedure and no mice displayed morbidity or >10% weight loss over 14 days of observation. IHC assessment of brain and spinal cord samples from mice treated with 13 ug aPD1 revealed focal ischemia related to injection site and no other signs of neurological damage or inflammation. IT aPD1 treatment of mice with BP leptomeningeal tumors demonstrated no significant survival advantage, although both IT aPD1 +/- Sys aPD1 had mice live up to days 29 and 26, respectively, compared to both IT control IgG +/- Sys aPD1, for which all mice died by day 22. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF FINDINGS: We demonstrate that cisternal injection of murine BRAF(V600E)/PTEN-/- melanoma cell lines yield LMD with reproducible survival and that treatment with IT aPD1 in this model is feasible and safe. Together these findings establish a new model to facilitate the development of more effective immunotherapy strategies for melanoma patients with LMD.