scholarly journals Experiences of online exposure-based treatment with parental support for teenagers with excessive worry

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tove Wahlund ◽  
Michaela Wallhem ◽  
Eva Serlachius ◽  
Hedvig Engberg
Keyword(s):  
Parental Involvement ◽  
Parental Support ◽  
Clinical Psychologist ◽  
Common Symptom ◽  
List Type ◽  
Psychological Treatments ◽  
Online Treatment ◽  
Online Format ◽  
Exposure Tasks ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Worry is a common symptom that can become excessive and is related to several negative health outcomes. Our research group recently developed an online treatment for teenagers with excessive worry with a parallel programme for their parents. The treatment is characterized by a specific focus on exposure to uncertainty and other avoided stimuli, and includes a substantial amount of parental involvement. The aim of this study was to explore how teenagers and their parents experienced the treatment, especially how they perceived working independently with exposure tasks, parental involvement in the treatment programme, and a fixed treatment format. An experienced, independent clinical psychologist interviewed eight teenagers and nine parents in total. The verbatim transcripts were analysed with thematic analysis and two main themes emerged: ‘Seeing the worry in a new light’ and ‘Changing within a set format’, which both consisted of three subthemes. Based on the analysis, we concluded that teenagers can work actively with exposure and experience it as helpful even though it can be difficult and strange at first, and that parental involvement can be perceived as beneficial by both teenagers and their parents. While the online format placed a substantial responsibility on the families, and some would have wanted additional therapist support, working independently with one’s difficulties was acceptable. Key learning aims (1) To learn about experienced benefits and obstacles of exposure in the treatment of worry. (2) To learn about teenagers’ experiences of working independently with exposure. (3) To consider the impact of parental involvement in psychological treatments for teenagers. (4) To consider pros and cons of online treatment for teenagers and their parents. (5) To consider the use of qualitative research approaches to inform further development of psychological treatments for teenagers with excessive worry.

Epigenetic Studies in Psychotherapy: A Systematic Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-92
Author(s):  
Rafael Penadés ◽  
Bárbara Arias ◽  
Mar Fatjó-Vilas ◽  
Laura González-Vallespí ◽  
Clemente García-Rizo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Dna Methylation ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Epigenetic Modifications ◽  
Symptom Improvement ◽  
Epigenetic Changes ◽  
Main Hypothesis ◽  
Psychological Treatments ◽  
Time Period ◽  
The Impact

Background: Epigenetic modifications appear to be dynamic and they might be affected by environmental factors. The possibility of influencing these processes through psychotherapy has been suggested. Objective: To analyse the impact of psychotherapy on epigenetics when applied to mental disorders. The main hypothesis is that psychological treatments will produce epigenetic modifications related to the improvement of treated symptoms. Methods: A computerised and systematic search was completed throughout the time period from 1990 to 2019 on the PubMed, ScienceDirect and Scopus databases. Results: In total, 11 studies were selected. The studies were evaluated for the theoretical framework, genes involved, type of psychotherapy and clinical challenges and perspectives. All studies showed detectable changes at the epigenetic level, like DNA methylation changes, associated with symptom improvement after psychotherapy. Conclusion: Methylation profiles could be moderating treatment effects of psychotherapy. Beyond the detected epigenetic changes after psychotherapy, the epigenetic status before the implementation could act as an effective predictor of response.

scholarly journals Using Satellite Data for CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear) Threat Detection, Monitoring, and Modelling

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Sutlieff ◽  
Lucy Berthoud ◽  
Mark Stinchcombe
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Data ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Chemical Detection ◽  
List Type ◽  
Data Types ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Future Technologies ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Near Future

Abstract CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear) threats are becoming more prevalent, as more entities gain access to modern weapons and industrial technologies and chemicals. This has produced a need for improvements to modelling, detection, and monitoring of these events. While there are currently no dedicated satellites for CBRN purposes, there are a wide range of possibilities for satellite data to contribute to this field, from atmospheric composition and chemical detection to cloud cover, land mapping, and surface property measurements. This study looks at currently available satellite data, including meteorological data such as wind and cloud profiles, surface properties like temperature and humidity, chemical detection, and sounding. Results of this survey revealed several gaps in the available data, particularly concerning biological and radiological detection. The results also suggest that publicly available satellite data largely does not meet the requirements of spatial resolution, coverage, and latency that CBRN detection requires, outside of providing terrain use and building height data for constructing models. Lastly, the study evaluates upcoming instruments, platforms, and satellite technologies to gauge the impact these developments will have in the near future. Improvements in spatial and temporal resolution as well as latency are already becoming possible, and new instruments will fill in the gaps in detection by imaging a wider range of chemicals and other agents and by collecting new data types. This study shows that with developments coming within the next decade, satellites should begin to provide valuable augmentations to CBRN event detection and monitoring. Article Highlights There is a wide range of existing satellite data in fields that are of interest to CBRN detection and monitoring. The data is mostly of insufficient quality (resolution or latency) for the demanding requirements of CBRN modelling for incident control. Future technologies and platforms will improve resolution and latency, making satellite data more viable in the CBRN management field

scholarly journals Does agricultural intensification cause tipping points in ecosystem services?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen C. L. Watson ◽  
Adrian C. Newton ◽  
Lucy E. Ridding ◽  
Paul M. Evans ◽  
Steven Brand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Agricultural Intensification ◽  
Spatial Dynamics ◽  
Policy Option ◽  
List Type ◽  
Tipping Points ◽  
Software Models ◽  
Non Linear ◽  
Study Interval ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Context Agricultural intensification is being widely pursued as a policy option to improve food security and human development. Yet, there is a need to understand the impact of agricultural intensification on the provision of multiple ecosystem services, and to evaluate the possible occurrence of tipping points. Objectives To quantify and assess the long-term spatial dynamics of ecosystem service (ES) provision in a landscape undergoing agricultural intensification at four time points 1930, 1950, 1980 and 2015. Determine if thresholds or tipping points in ES provision may have occurred and if there are any detectable impacts on economic development and employment. Methods We used the InVEST suite of software models together with a time series of historical land cover maps and an Input–Output model to evaluate these dynamics over an 85-year period in the county of Dorset, southern England. Results Results indicated that trends in ES were often non-linear, highlighting the potential for abrupt changes in ES provision to occur in response to slight changes in underlying drivers. Despite the fluctuations in provision of different ES, overall economic activity increased almost linearly during the study interval, in line with the increase in agricultural productivity. Conclusions Such non-linear thresholds in ES will need to be avoided in the future by approaches aiming to deliver sustainable agricultural intensification. A number of positive feedback mechanisms are identified that suggest these thresholds could be considered as tipping points. However, further research into these feedbacks is required to fully determine the occurrence of tipping points in agricultural systems.

128 Development of an M1-polarized, non-viral chimeric antigen receptor macrophage (CAR-M) platform for cancer immunotherapy

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (Suppl 3) ◽  
pp. A141-A141
Author(s):  
Yumi Ohtani ◽  
Kayleigh Ross ◽  
Aditya Dandekar ◽  
Rashid Gabbasov ◽  
Michael Klichinsky
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Immunotherapy ◽  
Chimeric Antigen Receptor ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Antigen Receptor ◽  
Innate Immune ◽  
List Type ◽  
M1 Phenotype ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Anti Tumor Activity ◽  
Immunosuppressive Factors

BackgroundWe have previously developed CAR-M as a novel cell therapy approach for the treatment of solid tumors.1 CAR-M have the potential to overcome key challenges that cell therapies face in the solid tumor setting – tumor infiltration, immunosuppression, lymphocyte exclusion – and can induce epitope spreading to overcome target antigen heterogeneity. While macrophages transduced with the adenoviral vector Ad5f35 (Ad CAR-M) traffic to tumors, provide robust anti-tumor activity, and recruit and activate T cells, we sought to identify a robust non-viral method of macrophage engineering in order to reduce the cost of goods, manufacturing complexity, and potential immunogenicity associated with viral vectors.MethodsAs innate immune cells, macrophages detect exogenous nucleic acids and respond with inflammatory and apoptotic programs. Thus, we sought to identify a means of mRNA delivery that avoids recognition by innate immune sensors. We screened a broad panel of mRNA encoding an anti-HER2 CAR comprising multiplexed 5’Cap and base modifications using an optimized and scalable electroporation approach and evaluated the impact of interferon-β priming on CAR-M phenotype and function.ResultsWe identified the optimal multiplexed mRNA modifications that led to maximal macrophage viability, transfection efficiency, intensity of CAR expression, and duration of expression. Non-viral HER2 CAR-M phagocytosed and killed human HER2+ tumor cells. Unlike Ad CAR-M, mRNA CAR-M were not skewed toward an M1 state by mRNA electroporation. Priming non-viral CAR-M with IFN-β induced a durable M1 phenotype, as shown by stable upregulation of numerous M1 markers and pathways. IFN-β priming significantly enhanced the anti-tumor activity of CAR but not control macrophages. IFN-β primed mRNA CAR-M were resistant to M2 conversion, maintaining an M1 phenotype despite challenge with various immunosuppressive factors, and converted bystander M2 macrophages toward M1. Interestingly, priming mRNA CAR-M with IFN-β significantly enhanced the persistence of CAR expression, overcoming the known issue of rapid mRNA turnover. RNA-seq analysis revealed that IFN-β priming affected pathways involved in increasing translation and decreasing RNA degradation in human macrophages.ConclusionsWe have established a novel, optimized non-viral CAR-M platform based on chemically modified mRNA and IFN-β priming. IFN-β priming induced a durable M1 phenotype, improved CAR expression, improved CAR persistence, led to enhanced anti-tumor function, and rendered resistance to immunosuppressive factors. This novel platform is amenable to scale-up, GMP manufacturing, and represents an advance in the development of CAR-M.ReferenceKlichinsky M, Ruella M, Shestova O, et al. Human chimeric antigen receptor macrophages for cancer immunotherapy. Nat Biotechnol 2020;38(8):947–953.

scholarly journals The impact of lockdown policy on depressive symptoms among pregnant women in China: mediating effects of internet use and family support

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongjie Zhou ◽  
Ruoxi Wang ◽  
Lei Liu ◽  
Ting Ding ◽  
Lijuan Huo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Family Support ◽  
Parental Support ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Internet Use ◽  
Western China ◽  
Maternal Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Although more and more attention has been paid to the psychological consequences of the lockdown policy amongst pregnant women, the underlying mechanism linking the lockdown policy to maternal depression has not been studied in the context of China. This study aimed to explore the association between the lockdown policy and maternal depressive symptoms, and whether such association was mediated by internet use and/or family support. Methods This cross-sectional study used multi-stage sampling techniques in central and western China. Data were collected from 1266 pregnant women using a structtured questionnaire that measured internet use, family support, and depressive symptoms. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was used to measure depressive symptoms. Internet use was measured by length of usage and varierity of purpose for internet use. Family support was measureed by spousal support and parental support. The structural equation modelling was employed to conduct mediation analysis to test the specificity of the hypothetical paths. Results Overall, 527 respondents (41.63%) presented depressive symptoms. The lockdown policy was negatively associated with depressive symptoms in pregnant women (β = − 0.925, 95% CI = −1.510, − 0.360). The impact of the lockdown policy on depressive symptoms was partially mediated by internet use (β = 1.589, 95% CI = 0.730, 2.807) and family support (β = − 0.162, 95% CI = − 0.341, − 0.017), accounting for 42.67% of the total effect. Conclusions The lockdown policy was generally associated with fewer depressive symptoms in pregnant women. The lockdown policy increased maternal depressive symptoms through increased internet use, but decreased maternal depressive symptoms through enhanced family support. The findings suggest that the psychological consequence of the lockdown policy may vary across different populations, and warrant the need to take into consideration the features of subgroups.

scholarly journals Research on the impact of ship traffic flow on the restricted channel segment of the middle Yangtze River based on traffic wave theory

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ting Liu ◽  
Gabriel Lodewijks
Keyword(s):  
Traffic Flow ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Flow Simulation ◽  
Wave Theory ◽  
Flow Density ◽  
List Type ◽  
Ship Traffic ◽  
Traffic Wave ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Channel Segment

Abstract Abstract On the basis of the influence of dry season on ship traffic flow, the gathering and dissipating process of ship traffic flow was researched with Greenshields linear flow—density relationship model, the intrinsic relationship between the ship traffic congestion state and traffic wave in the unclosed restricted channel segment was emphatically explored when the ship traffic flow in a tributary channel inflows, and the influence law of multiple traffic waves on the ship traffic flow characteristics in unclosed restricted segment is revealed. On this basis, the expressions of traffic wave speed and direction, dissipation time of queued ships and the number of ships affected were provided, and combined with Monte Carlo method, the ship traffic flow simulation model in the restricted channel segment was built. The simulation results show that in closed restricted channel segment the dissipation time of ships queued is mainly related to the ship traffic flow rate of segments A and C, and the total number of ships affected to the ship traffic flow rate of segment A. And in unclosed restricted channel segment, the dissipation time and the total number of ships affected are also determined by the meeting time of the traffic waves in addition to the ship traffic flow rate of segments. The research results can provide the theoretical support for further studying the ship traffic flow in unclosed restricted channel segment with multiple tributaries Article Highlights The inflow of tributaries' ship traffic flows has an obvious impact on the traffic conditions in the unenclosed restricted channel segment. The interaction and influence between multiple ship traffic waves and the mechanism of generating new traffic waves are explained. The expression of both dissipation time of queued ships and the total number of ships affected in the closed and unclosed restricted channel segment are given.

scholarly journals Antibiotics at birth and later antibiotic courses: effects on gut microbiota

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia Ainonen ◽  
Mysore V Tejesvi ◽  
Md. Rayhan Mahmud ◽  
Niko Paalanne ◽  
Tytti Pokka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Control Group ◽  
List Type ◽  
Antibiotic Exposure ◽  
Microbiota Composition ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Antibiotic Courses ◽  
Gut Microbiota Composition

Abstract Background Intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP) is widely used, but the evidence of the long-term effects on the gut microbiota and subsequent health of children is limited. Here, we compared the impacts of perinatal antibiotic exposure and later courses of antibiotic courses on gut microbiota. Methods This was a prospective, controlled cohort study among 100 vaginally delivered infants with different perinatal antibiotic exposures: control (27), IAP (27), postnatal antibiotics (24), and IAP and postnatal antibiotics (22). At 1 year of age, we performed next-generation sequencing of the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene of fecal samples. Results Exposure to the perinatal antibiotics had a clear impact on the gut microbiota. The abundance of the Bacteroidetes phylum was significantly higher in the control group, whereas the relative abundance of Escherichia coli was significantly lower in the control group. The impact of the perinatal antibiotics on the gut microbiota composition was greater than exposure to later courses of antibiotics (28% of participants). Conclusions Perinatal antibiotic exposure had a marked impact on the gut microbiota at the age of 1 year. The timing of the antibiotic exposure appears to be the critical factor for the changes observed in the gut microbiota. Impact Infants are commonly exposed to IAP and postnatal antibiotics, and later to courses of antibiotics during the first year of life. Perinatal antibiotics have been associated with an altered gut microbiota during the first months of life, whereas the evidence regarding the long-term impact is more limited. Perinatal antibiotic exposure had a marked impact on the infant’s gut microbiota at 1 year of age. Impact of the perinatal antibiotics on the gut microbiota composition was greater than that of the later courses of antibiotics at the age of 1 year.

scholarly journals Anomalous Laterally Stressed Kinetically Trapped DNA Surface Conformations

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Valery V. Prokhorov ◽  
Nikolay A. Barinov ◽  
Kirill A. Prusakov ◽  
Evgeniy V. Dubrovin ◽  
Maxim D. Frank-Kamenetskii ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electrostatic Interaction ◽  
Mechanical Response ◽  
Persistence Length ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
List Type ◽  
Surface Charges ◽  
Monomolecular Films ◽  
Chain Approximation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positively Charged

Highlights DNA kinking is inevitable for the highly anisotropic 1D–1D electrostatic interaction with the one-dimensionally periodically charged surface. The double helical structure of the DNA kinetically trapped on positively charged monomolecular films comprising the lamellar templates is strongly laterally stressed and extremely perturbed at the nanometer scale. The DNA kinetic trapping is not a smooth 3D—> 2D conformational flattening but is a complex nonlinear in-plane mechanical response (bending, tensile and unzipping) driven by the physics beyond the scope of the applicability of the linear worm-like chain approximation. Abstract Up to now, the DNA molecule adsorbed on a surface was believed to always preserve its native structure. This belief implies a negligible contribution of lateral surface forces during and after DNA adsorption although their impact has never been elucidated. High-resolution atomic force microscopy was used to observe that stiff DNA molecules kinetically trapped on monomolecular films comprising one-dimensional periodically charged lamellar templates as a single layer or as a sublayer are oversaturated by sharp discontinuous kinks and can also be locally melted and supercoiled. We argue that kink/anti-kink pairs are induced by an overcritical lateral bending stress (> 30 pNnm) inevitable for the highly anisotropic 1D-1D electrostatic interaction of DNA and underlying rows of positive surface charges. In addition, the unexpected kink-inducing mechanical instability in the shape of the template-directed DNA confined between the positively charged lamellar sides is observed indicating the strong impact of helicity. The previously reported anomalously low values of the persistence length of the surface-adsorbed DNA are explained by the impact of the surface-induced low-scale bending. The sites of the local melting and supercoiling are convincingly introduced as other lateral stress-induced structural DNA anomalies by establishing a link with DNA high-force mechanics. The results open up the study in the completely unexplored area of the principally anomalous kinetically trapped DNA surface conformations in which the DNA local mechanical response to the surface-induced spatially modulated lateral electrostatic stress is essentially nonlinear. The underlying rich and complex in-plane nonlinear physics acts at the nanoscale beyond the scope of applicability of the worm-like chain approximation.

scholarly journals Cyber operational risk scenarios for insurance companies

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Egan ◽  
S. Cartagena ◽  
R. Mohamed ◽  
V. Gosrani ◽  
J. Grewal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cyber Security ◽  
Operational Risk ◽  
Social Engineering ◽  
Insurance Companies ◽  
List Type ◽  
Operational Risks ◽  
Life Insurer ◽  
Cyber Risk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over Time

AbstractCyber Operational Risk: Cyber risk is routinely cited as one of the most important sources of operational risks facing organisations today, in various publications and surveys. Further, in recent years, cyber risk has entered the public conscience through highly publicised events involving affected UK organisations such as TalkTalk, Morrisons and the NHS. Regulators and legislators are increasing their focus on this topic, with General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) a notable example of this. Risk actuaries and other risk management professionals at insurance companies therefore need to have a robust assessment of the potential losses stemming from cyber risk that their organisations may face. They should be able to do this as part of an overall risk management framework and be able to demonstrate this to stakeholders such as regulators and shareholders. Given that cyber risks are still very much new territory for insurers and there is no commonly accepted practice, this paper describes a proposed framework in which to perform such an assessment. As part of this, we leverage two existing frameworks – the Chief Risk Officer (“CRO”) Forum cyber incident taxonomy, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) framework – to describe the taxonomy of a cyber incident, and the relevant cyber security and risk mitigation items for the incident in question, respectively.Summary of Results: Three detailed scenarios have been investigated by the working party:∙Employee leaks data at a general (non-life) insurer: Internal attack through social engineering, causing large compensation costs and regulatory fines, driving a 1 in 200 loss of £210.5m (c. 2% of annual revenue).∙Cyber extortion at a life insurer: External attack through social engineering, causing large business interruption and reputational damage, driving a 1 in 200 loss of £179.5m (c. 6% of annual revenue).∙Motor insurer telematics device hack: External attack through software vulnerabilities, causing large remediation / device replacement costs, driving a 1 in 200 loss of £70.0m (c. 18% of annual revenue).Limitations: The following sets out key limitations of the work set out in this paper:∙While the presented scenarios are deemed material at this point in time, the threat landscape moves fast and could render specific narratives and calibrations obsolete within a short-time frame.∙There is a lack of historical data to base certain scenarios on and therefore a high level of subjectivity is used to calibrate them.∙No attempt has been made to make an allowance for seasonality of renewals (a cyber event coinciding with peak renewal season could exacerbate cost impacts)∙No consideration has been given to the impact of the event on the share price of the company.∙Correlation with other risk types has not been explicitly considered.Conclusions: Cyber risk is a very real threat and should not be ignored or treated lightly in operational risk frameworks, as it has the potential to threaten the ongoing viability of an organisation. Risk managers and capital actuaries should be aware of the various sources of cyber risk and the potential impacts to ensure that the business is sufficiently prepared for such an event. When it comes to quantifying the impact of cyber risk on the operations of an insurer there are significant challenges. Not least that the threat landscape is ever changing and there is a lack of historical experience to base assumptions off. Given this uncertainty, this paper sets out a framework upon which readers can bring consistency to the way scenarios are developed over time. It provides a common taxonomy to ensure that key aspects of cyber risk are considered and sets out examples of how to implement the framework. It is critical that insurers endeavour to understand cyber risk better and look to refine assumptions over time as new information is received. In addition to ensuring that sufficient capital is being held for key operational risks, the investment in understanding cyber risk now will help to educate senior management and could have benefits through influencing internal cyber security capabilities.

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