Carstenspham2533

The mission of the human stress system is the maintenance of homeostasis in the presence of real or perceived, acute or chronic stressors. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the autonomic nervous system (ANS) are the stress system-related neuroendocrine pathways. There is abundant evidence that children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may exhibit atypical function within the HPA axis and the ANS both at the resting state and during the presence of social and/or non-social stressors. The aim of this review is to provide an up-to-date summary of the findings regarding stress system alterations in children and adolescents with ASD. We focus on the variations of stress hormones circadian rhythms, specifically cortisol and alpha-amylase (i.e., a surrogate index of epinephrine/norepinephrine secretion), and on the alterations of stress system responsivity to different stressors. Also, we present imaging and immunological findings that have been associated with stress system dysregulation in children and adolescents with ASD. Finally, we review the pivotal role of HPA axis-ANS coordination, the developmental trajectory of the stress system in ASD, and the possible role of early life stress in the dysregulation of the stress system demonstrated in children and adolescents with ASD. This synthesis will hopefully provide researchers with a foundation for an integrated approach to future research into stress system variations in children and adolescents with ASD.Background and Purpose Leukoaraiosis, also called white matter hyperintensities (WMH), is frequently encountered in the brain of older adults. During aging, gray matter structure is also highly affected. WMH or gray matter defects are commonly associated with a higher prevalence of mild cognitive impairment. However, little is known about the relationship between WMH and gray matter. Our aim was thus to explore the relationship between leukoaraiosis severity and gray matter volume in a cohort of healthy older adults. Methods Leukoaraiosis was rated in participants from the PROOF cohort using the Fazekas scale. Voxel-based morphometry was performed on brain scans to examine the potential link between WMH and changes of local brain volume. A neuropsychological evaluation including attentional, executive, and memory tests was also performed to explore cognition. Results Out of 315 75-year-old subjects, 228 had punctuate foci of leukoaraiosis and 62 had begun the confluence of foci. Leukoaraiosis was associated with a decrease of gray matter in the middle temporal gyrus, in the right medial frontal gyrus, and in the left parahippocampal gyrus. It was also associated with decreased performances in memory recall, executive functioning, and depression. Conclusion In a population of healthy older adults, leukoaraiosis was associated with gray matter defects and reduced cognitive performance. Controlling vascular risk factors and detecting early cerebrovascular disease may prevent, at least in part, dementia onset and progression.Crohn's disease is a chronic, idiopathic condition characterized by intestinal inflammation and debilitating gastrointestinal symptomatology. Previous studies of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), primarily in colitis, have shown reduced inflammation after electrical or pharmacological activation of the vagus nerve, but the scope and kinetics of this effect are incompletely understood. To investigate this, we studied the effect of electrical vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) in a rat model of indomethacin-induced small intestinal inflammation. 1 min of VNS significantly reduced small bowel total inflammatory lesion area [(mean ± SEM) sham 124 ± 14 mm2, VNS 62 ± 14 mm2, p = 0.002], intestinal peroxidation and chlorination rates, and intestinal and systemic pro-inflammatory cytokine levels as compared with sham-treated animals after 24 h following indomethacin administration. It was not known whether this observed reduction of inflammation after VNS in intestinal inflammation was mediated by direct innervation of the gut or if the signals are relayed through the spleen. To investigate this, we studied the VNS effect on the small bowel lesions of splenectomized rats and splenic nerve stimulation (SNS) in intact rats. We observed that VNS reduced small bowel inflammation also in splenectomized rats but SNS alone failed to significantly reduce small bowel lesion area. Interestingly, VNS significantly reduced small bowel lesion area for 48 h when indomethacin administration was delayed. Thus, 1 min of electrical activation of the vagus nerve reduced indomethacin-induced intestinal lesion area by a spleen-independent mechanism. The surprisingly long-lasting and spleen-independent effect of VNS on the intestinal response to indomethacin challenge has important implications on our understanding of neural control of intestinal inflammation and its potential translation to improved therapies for IBD.[This corrects the article DOI 10.3389/fnins.2020.609613.].Objectives To explore how perceived disease threat and trust in institutions relate to vaccination intent, perceived effectiveness of official recommendations, and to othering strategies. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey of Swiss adults in July 2020. Outcome variables were vaccination intent, perceived effectiveness of official recommendations and othering strategies (labelling a given social group as responsible for the disease and distancing from it). Independent variables were perceived disease threat, trust in various institutions, perceived health-related measures, and sociodemographic variables. Linear and logistic regressions were performed. Results The response rate was 20.2% (1518/7500). Perceived disease threat and trust in medical/scientific institutions were positively associated with vaccination intent and perceived effectiveness of official recommendations for coronavirus mitigation measures. Only disease threat was associated with a perception of effectiveness among othering strategies. Age and education levels were associated with vaccination intent. Conclusion Reinforcing trust in medical/scientific institutions can help strengthen the perceived effectiveness of official recommendations and vaccination. It however does not prevent adherence to ineffective protecting measures such as othering strategies, where decreasing perceptions of epidemic threat appears to be more efficient.Objectives Implementing public health measures is necessary to decrease sugars intake, which is associated with increased risk of noncommunicable diseases. Our scoping review aimed to identify the types of measures implemented and evaluated to decrease sugars intake in the population and to assess their impact. Methods Following a review of systematic reviews (SRs) published in 2018, we systematically searched new SR (May 2017-October 2020) in electronic databases. We also searched the measures implemented in Europe in the NOURISHING database. Two researchers selected the reviews, extracted and analysed the data. Results We included 15 SRs assessing economic tools (n = 5), product reformulation and labels/claims (n = 5), and educational/environmental interventions (n = 7). Economic tools, product reformulation and environmental measures were effective to reduce sugar intake or weight outcomes, while labels, education and interventions combining educational and environmental measures found mixed effects. The most frequently implemented measures in Europe were public awareness, nutritional education, and labels. Conclusion Among measures to reduce sugar intake in the population, economic tools, product reformulation, and environmental interventions were the most effective, but not the more frequently implemented in Europe.

Literature on the perceptions and experiences of postgraduate trainees and trainers regarding online methods of learning is scarce. We aimed to assess the perceptions and experiences of family medicine trainees and trainers regarding online learning during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Qassim, KSA.

This was a mixed-method study involving trainees and trainers at the Family Medicine Academy, Qassim. Quantitative data were collected using structured questionnaires from 36 trainees and 26 trainers. Qualitative data were collected through in-depth interviews with trainees (

= 4) and trainers (

= 3). Descriptive analysis was performed on the quantitative data, while thematic analysis was performed on the qualitative data.

Among the trainees, 39% perceived online learning to be less effective than traditional classroom learning. Moreover, 61% and 64% of the respondents were concerned about the motivation and quality of online learning, respectively. Lack of direct contact with other students effectiveness among trainees and trainers. There is a need to train trainers in online teaching and adopt interactive methods to increase trainees' interaction, motivation, and participation.Structural problems have various nonlinearities in the real world and these nonlinearities should be accommodated in structural topology optimization. Epinephrine bitartrate chemical structure This work proposes a topology optimization method for minimizing the maximum von Mises stress of elastic continuum structures with frictional contact under material usage constraint, using an extended Bi-directional Evolutionary Structural Optimization (BESO) method. Stresses are treated as global performance (objective) function, the global von Mises stress is measured by the p-norm stress aggregation approach, and the friction behavior is governed by the Coulomb friction law regularized in analogy with the perfect elasto-plastic theory. BESO method based on discrete variables which can avoid the well-known stress singularity and the numerical instability issue in frictional contact problems. The adjoint sensitivity analysis method is adopted to derive the sensitivity numbers. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated through a series of comparison studies including elastic-rigid and elastic-elastic contact problems. The influence of varying friction coefficient on the optimized results and the stress distributions are investigated in comparison with the maximum stiffness design. The effect of different parameters including p-norm, volume fraction and mesh density on the optimized results are discussed. The optimized results, for elastic-rigid contact, indicate that the maximum stress can be reduced compared with elastic-elastic contact. The optimized stress decreases as the friction coefficient increases because the friction behavior resists the tangential deformation at the contact interface. The results also show that the proposed approach can achieve a reasonable design that effectively controls the stress level and reduces the stress concentration effect at the critical stress areas.

Human respiratory aerosols may have important implications for transmission of pathogens. The study of aerosol production during vigorous breathing activities such as exercise is limited. In particular, data on aerosol production during cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) are lacking.

In this pilot project, we used a high-powered, pulsed NdYAG laser to illuminate a region of interest in front of two healthy adult subjects during CPET. Subjects exercised to the point of respiratory compensation. Images were captured with a high-speed, high-resolution camera to determine net exhaled particle (NEP) counts at different phases of CPET, including resting breathing, submaximal exercise, peak exercise, and active recovery. Experiments were performed with the room ventilation activated.

Net exhaled particle counts remained relatively constant until late/peak exercise when they decreased prior to rebounding into recovery. NEP counts at resting breathing were higher than those reported using other methods of measurement.