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Feasibility of salivary DNA collection in a population-based case-control study: a pilot study of pediatric Crohn's disease.
No full textBackgroundEpidemiologic studies combining exposure and outcome data with the collection of biosamples are needed to study gene-environment interactions that might contribute to the etiology of complex diseases such as pediatric Crohn's disease (CD). Nationwide registries, including those in Denmark and other Scandinavian countries, provide efficient and reliable sources of data for epidemiological studies evaluating the environmental determinants of disease. We performed a pilot study to test the feasibility of collecting salivary DNA to augment registry data in established cases of pediatric CD and randomly selected, population-based controls.Subjects and methodsCases of CD born after 1995 and residing in the central region of Denmark were identified through the Danish National Patient Registry and confirmed by using standard diagnostic criteria. Age- and gender-matched controls were selected at random through the civil registration system. Cases and controls were contacted by mail and telephone and invited to submit a saliva sample. DNA was extracted and genotyped for six CD-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).ResultsA total of 53 cases of pediatric CD were invited, and 40 contributed a saliva sample (75% response rate). A total of 126 controls were invited, and 54 contributed a saliva sample (44% response rate). As expected, demographic characteristics did not differ between cases and controls. DNA was successfully isolated from 93 of 94 samples. Genotyping was performed with only 2% undetermined genotypes. For five of six SNPs known to be associated with CD, risk allele frequencies were higher in cases than controls.ConclusionThis pilot study strongly supports the feasibility of augmenting traditional epidemiological data from Danish population-based registries with the de novo collection of genetic information from population-based cases and controls. This will facilitate rigorous studies of gene-environment interactions in complex chronic conditions such as CD
Association between Home Modification and Falls Among Older Adults: The Health and Retirement Study
No full textAbstractBackground: The aging population is rapidly increasing, and falls are a significant threat to the health and well-being of older adults. Falls are the leading cause of injury among individuals aged 65 and older, resulting in increased healthcare costs, morbidity, and mortality. Preventing falls among older adults requires a multifaceted approach that includes education, training, research, and policy development. While studies have evaluated the effectiveness of multifactorial interventions, little attention has been paid to home modification as a fall prevention strategy. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of home modification on the incidence of falls and fall-related injuries among retired older adults in the United States who are living independently in the community. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we investigated whether home modification is associated with a lower incidence of falls.
Method: This study utilized data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to investigate the association between home modifications and falls among community-dwelling older adults in the United States. The study included 4,620 participants aged 60 years and older who completed surveys in 2006 and 2008. The primary outcome was the occurrence of falls during the follow-up period in 2008, and the secondary outcome was injury due to a fall. The binary variable for home modification was created based on whether participants reported having any home modifications in the last two years. Covariates included demographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, and health-related variables. Baseline demographic and health characteristics were described using means, standard deviations, counts, and proportions. Two- sample t-tests and chi-squared tests were used to compare continuous and categorical variables
between participants with and without home modifications. Logistic regression models were used to assess the unadjusted and adjusted associations between home modifications and falls, adjusting for various covariates. Interaction analyses were conducted to examine the differences in associations by sex and age.
Result: This study aimed to investigate the association between home modification and falls among older adults. A total of 4,620 participants were included in the study, divided into two groups: those with and without home modification. The incidence of falls in the past two years was similar in both groups, with 25.94% in the home modification group and 25.08% in the non-home modification group. Participants with home modification had 17% lower odds of falls than those without home modification. Additionally, participants with home modification had 22% lower odds of fall-related injuries. The study found that the age category of 60-69 had the lowest incidence of falls, and female participants had a lower incidence of falls than males after home modification. The presence of safety and getting around features in home modifications was also associated with a reduced incidence of falls.
Conclusion: This study suggests that home modification can be an effective strategy to prevent falls and fall-related injuries among older adults living in the community. The findings are consistent with previous research and provide valuable information for healthcare professionals and policymakers to design interventions that include home modification to reduce the burden of falls and their associated injuries in older adults.</p
Using Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Parts 2 and 3 Simultaneously: Combining the Patient Voice with Clinician Ratings
No full textAgents with Principles: The Control of Labor in the Dutch East India Company, 1700-1796
No full textPrincipal-agent problems plagued early modern corporations. The existing literature emphasizes the potential benefits provided by private trade in aligning the interests of company agents to those of their principals. We contribute to this line of work by analyzing the organizational and social mechanisms that may help address principal-agent problems in the presence of private trading opportunities. Drawing on personnel records of more than half a million seafarers employed by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) over nearly a century, we show that monitoring was effective in reducing desertion when private trade was conceived as a market activity subordinated to hierarchy. Social bonds were more effective in preventing desertion when the company elevated private trade above hierarchy. Our analysis clarifies how early corporations could maintain control over a geographically dispersed and diverse labor force in the absence of modern tools of organizational governance
The <i>Aspergillus</i> Lateral Flow Assay for the Diagnosis of Invasive Aspergillosis: an Update.
No full textPurpose of reviewTo review the data on the Aspergillus lateral flow assay for the diagnosis of invasive Aspergillosis.Recent findingsAspergillus spp. cause a wide spectrum of disease with invasive aspergillosis (IA) as its most severe manifestation. Early and reliable diagnosis of disease is crucial to decrease associated morbidity and mortality, and enable prompt initiation of treatment for IA. Most recently, non-culture-based tests, such as Aspergillus galactomannan (GM), have been useful in early identification and treatment of patients with IA. However, cost, turnaround time, and variable performance indifferent populations at risk for IA remain significant drawbacks to the use of this test. Several diagnostic tests for IA have been developed, including the sōna Aspergillus GM Lateral flow assay (GM-LFA) rapid test.SummaryThe GM-LFA has shown excellent performance for the diagnosis of IA in patients with hematologic malignancy and may be a viable option for settings where ELISA GM testing is not feasible. Further evaluation of the GM-LFA in the non-hematology setting is ongoing, including in solid organ transplant recipients and patients in the intensive care unit
Maturational changes in song sparrow song
No full textAge-related changes in the production of sexually selected assessment signals have been identified across a diverse range of taxa, and in some cases, these changes have been shown to affect receiver response to those signals. One important type of change occurs even after a signaler reaches breeding age, a phenomenon known as delayed maturation. Delayed maturation has been observed in the songs of several bird species, with potential fitness consequences for males as a byproduct of female choosiness or male competition. Here, we analyzed songs recorded across the first three years of life in a cohort of hand-reared song sparrows Melospiza melodia to detect early-life age-related changes in song. We focused on three measures of song complexity, including within song type variation, the average number of notes and the number of unique note types for the most common variant of each song type, and five measures of song production patterns, including singing rate, time interval between songs within a bout of the same song type, time interval between bouts (i.e. when the song type changes), within-song stereotypy and between-song consistency. All measures of song complexity and most measures of song production patterns (excluding within-song stereotypy) changed significantly within individuals as birds aged from one to two years as well as from one to three years (excluding within-bout time interval), whereas no significant changes occurred from two to three years of age. Based on these features, a linear discriminant model could distinguish between the song of young (age 1) and older (age 2 and 3) adult males, providing support that song could serve as an indicator of age in this species. We discuss potential implications of these results for mate choice and male–male competition in song sparrows
The Household as a Source of Labor for Entrepreneurs: Evidence from New York City during Industrialization
No full textResearch Summary: This article conceptualizes households as a crucial pool of labor for small entrepreneurs. The household varied historically in its scope (depending on whether bonded workers were included) and work intensity (depending on the authority or coercion exercised by household heads). Drawing on data that enumerate over 100,000 households in New York City, I examine how the shift from institutions of unfree labor to wage labor affected business proprietorship between 1790 and 1850. Given the disproportionate importance of unfree household labor to small entrepreneurs, the contraction of this labor source may offer one general explanation for their decline. Managerial Summary: How does household scope and composition affect the ability of an individual to run their own business? Historical archives can provide useful insights into this question. They track long-term declines in family size and the emancipation of non-family members—such as apprentices, indentured servants, and slaves—from the authority of household heads. Examining records from early New York City, this study shows that business ownership was strongly linked with the ownership of slaves and the presence of dependent males after the American Revolution. Large households and unfree laborers were especially important for entrepreneurship among individuals with limited wealth. For modern economies, the results suggest that policymakers consider potential tensions between small business ownership and the development of free and equitable labor markets
DEVELOPMENT, FEASIBILITY, AND ACCEPTABILITY OF A BEHAVIORAL WEIGHT AND SYMPTOM MANAGEMENT INTERVENTION FOR BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS AND INTIMATE PARTNERS.
No full textBackgroundWeight gain is common for breast cancer survivors and associated with disease progression, recurrence, and mortality. Traditional behavioral programs fail to address symptoms (i.e., pain, fatigue, distress) experienced by breast cancer survivors that may interfere with weight loss and fail to capitalize on the concordance in weight-related health behaviors of couples. This study aimed to develop and examine the feasibility and acceptability of a behavioral weight and symptom management intervention for breast cancer survivors and their intimate partners.Materials and methodsInterviews were conducted with N=14 couples with overweight/obesity to develop the intervention. Intervention feasibility and acceptability were examined through a single-arm pilot trial (N=12 couples). Patterns of change in intervention targets were examined for survivors and partners.ResultsThemes derived from interviews were used to develop the 12-session couple-based intervention, which included components from traditional behavioral weight management interventions, appetite awareness training, and cognitive and behavioral symptom management protocols. Couples also worked together to set goals, create plans for health behavior change, and adjust systemic and relationship barriers to weight loss. Examples were tailored to the experiences and symptom management needs of breast cancer survivors and partners. The intervention demonstrated feasibility (attrition: 8%; session completion: 88%) and acceptability (satisfaction). Survivors and partners experienced reductions in weight and improvements in physical activity, eating behaviors, emotional distress, and self-efficacy. Survivors evidenced improvements in fatigue and pain.ConclusionsA behavioral weight and symptom management intervention for breast cancer survivors and partners is feasible, acceptable, and is potentially efficacious