Search

Manganese crusts recovered from sediment sections at Ocean Drilling Programme (ODP) Sites 835 and 838 in the Lau Basin have been studied mineralogically and by bulk and partition geochemical techniques. Results show they are of hydrothermal rather than hydrogenous origin and are composed principally of stable 10 Å-manganite. The stratigraphic location of the crusts in the sediment sections would suggest they range between 0.2 and 3.5 million years old. The crusts were most likely formed at the sediment water interface before being incorporated into the sediment section by slumping and subsequent burial. Basal Site 835 crusts were most likely formed at or close to the Eastern Lau Spreading Center (ELSC), and those in the younger part of the sediment section were probably formed at a site of ''off-axis'' volcanism. Site 838 crusts were most likely formed on an intrabasin seamount. The crusts are thus the fossil equivalents of modern hydrothermal Mn crusts. Although the crusts show geochemical characteristics of their modern hydrothermal counterparts, they contain elevated concentrations of Ba, Cu, Ni, V, and Zn compared to their modern counterparts, and these cannot be accounted for by either included sedimentary material or hydrogenous inputs. The elevated concentrations of these elements in the crusts is thought to result from reaction with interstitial waters soon after burial, a phenomenon which has profound implications for our understanding of marine ferromanganese oxides in general, as it indicates that they can undergo postdepositional compositional changes over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrothermal Mn-oxide deposits from the Tonga-Kermadec Ridge and the Valu Fa Ridge back-arc spreading center in the Lau Basin have been studied mineralogically and by bulk and partition geochemical techniques. The Mn-oxides are present as three main morphological types; of these, a dense, grey submetallic material is most common. Common lamination of this material suggests an intermittent rate of formation. Mineralogically, the crusts comprise variable proportions of 10Å and 7Å manganite. Concentrations of some trace elements, including Li, Mo, and Zn are generally significantly higher than those observed in Mn-crusts of hydrogenous origin, suggesting that the observed trace element enrichments are due to a hydrothermal source. Both temporal and geographical controls are seen to affect these trace element concentrations. Although most of the hydrothermally enriched elements are associated with the Mn-oxide phases, Li appears to reflect either a surficial adsorption or the presence of a separate Li-rich phase. Observed variations in deposit composition could reflect differences in the geochemistry of the basement rocks from which the elements have been leached, the proximity of high-temperature sulphide deposits and temporal variability in the hydrothermal systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seven sediment cores from the Palaea and Nea Kameni hydrothermal embayments (PK and NK) on Santorini have been studied by using sediment smear slides, X-ray diffraction, and radiocarbon techniques to determine their lithology, mineralogy, and age, respectively. The cores have been analyzed chemically for a suite of elements, including selective chemical leaching, to determine the partition of elements between coexisting phases. Lithologically and chemically, the sediments from the two embayments are very different. Sediments from PK are oxidized in the upper parts of the cores and reduced at depth; they comprise mainly hydrothermal pyritiferous diatomaceous ooze with minor Fe oxyhydroxide, volcanic debris, gypsum, and siderite. Sediments from NK are oxidized throughout and comprise predominantly amorphous iron oxyhydroxides and goethite; they are thought to have formed by direct precipitation from solution. In PK, biogenic, detrital seawater evaporate, and hydrothermal sediment phases have been identified but only the detrital inputs can be correlated between cores. Mn shows a pronounced enrichment towards the outer part of the embayment because of its dispersion down the embayment and precipitation in the more-oxidizing sediments towards the open sea. In NK, the sediments contain detrital, seawater evaporate, and hydrothermally precipitated and scavenged phases. The presence of substantial amounts of organic matter in the PK sediments but not in the NK sediments is probably the main reason why geochemical processes in the two embayments are different. Age dates obtained from the cores by using the [sup 14]C technique indicate that sedimentation in the PK embayment commenced at approximately 50 AD, whereas in the NK embayment it commenced at approximately 1900 AD, which is consistent with the known history of Santorini. Based on these dates, calculated metal accumulation rates in both embayments are higher than in any other dated hydrothermal metalliferous sediments with the exception of those in the Atlantis II Deep of the Red Sea. Sediment ponding in the embayments is the principal cause of these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Autistic children can experience mental health, social and emotional difficulties. Carol Gray's Social Stories™ are a highly personalised intervention that provide social information in a short individually tailored story., Methods: A multi-site pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial to evaluate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of Social Stories™ alongside care as usual in autistic children aged 4-11 years. The primary outcome was the Social Responsiveness Scale-2 completed by teachers 6 months post-randomisation, analysed on an intention-to-treat basis., Trial Registration: ISRCTN11634810., Results: Eighty-seven schools, including 249 children, were randomised (intervention 44 schools with 129 children, and usual care 43 schools with 120 children). After 6 months, a reduction of 1.61 points was found on the Social Responsiveness Scale-2 in the intervention group (95% CI -4.18 to 0.96, p = .220) and for those who attended at least six sessions a reduction of 3.37 points (CACE 95% CI -6.65 to -0.10, p = .043). Children in the intervention group met their individual socio-emotional goal more frequently than children receiving usual care alone and this was statistically significant. No statistically significant differences were found in other secondary outcomes including anxiety, depression, general health or parental stress., Conclusions: Social Stories™ represent a low-cost, low-burden intervention. Benefits are seen in individual socio-emotional goals but without clinically evident impact on social responsiveness, anxiety, depression, parental stress or general health., (© 2024 The Author(s). Child and Adolescent Mental Health published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.)

Background: Differences in the way autistic children experience the world can contribute to anxiety and stress. Carol Gray's Social Stories™ are a highly personalised intervention to support children by providing social information about specific situations in an individual story., Objectives: This randomised controlled trial aimed to establish whether Social Stories are clinically effective and cost-effective in improving social responsiveness and social and emotional health in children on the autism spectrum in schools., Design: A multisite pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial comparing Social Stories with care as usual., Setting: Eighty-seven schools (clusters) across Yorkshire and the Humber., Participants: Two hundred and forty-nine children were randomised via a bespoke system hosted at York Trials Unit (129 Social Stories and 120 care as usual). Recruitment was completed in May 2021. Participants were children aged 4-11 years with a diagnosis of autism, alongside teachers, interventionists and caregivers. Recruitment was via schools, NHS trusts, support groups and local publicity., Intervention: The intervention included training for educational professionals and caregivers covering psychoeducation and implementation of Social Stories. Stories were written around contextualised goals around the child's need for social information. Interventionists read the Social Story™ with the child at least six times over 4 weeks during school., Main Outcome Measure: The primary outcome was the Social Responsiveness Scale-2 completed by teachers at 6 months (the primary end point), which measures social awareness, cognition, communication and behaviour. Data were collected from caregivers and educational professionals at 6 weeks and 6 months through questionnaires. Blinding of participants was not possible., Results: At 6 months, the estimated difference in expected teacher-reported Social Responsiveness Scale-2 T-score (the primary end point) was -1.61 (95% confidence interval -4.18 to 0.96, p  = 0.220), slightly favouring the intervention group. The estimated differences for the parent-reported secondary outcomes at 6 months were small and generally favoured the control group except the measure of children's quality-adjusted life-year (+ 0.001, 95% confidence interval -0.032 to 0.035) and parental stress (-1.49, 95% confidence interval -5.43 to 2.46, p  = 0.460), which favoured the intervention group. Children in the intervention group met their individual goals more frequently than children who received usual care alone (0.97 confidence interval 0.21 to 1.73, p  = 0.012). The intervention is likely to save small costs (-£191 per child, 95% confidence interval -767.7 to 337.7) and maintain a similar quality of life compared to usual care. The probability of Social Stories being a preferred option is 75% if the society is willing to pay £20,000 per quality-adjusted life-year gained. Limitations include considerable disruptions during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic., Conclusion: Social Stories are used in schools and represent a low-cost intervention. There is no clinically evident impact on social responsiveness, anxiety and/or depression, parental stress or general health. Benefits were observed for specific behavioural goals as assessed by the teacher, and Social Stories may serve as a useful tool for facilitating dialogue between children and school staff to address specific behavioural challenges. Usage should be at the school's discretion., Future Work: Given the uncertainty of the results in light of coronavirus disease 2019, further work to establish the impact of Social Stories is merited., Trial Registration: This trial is registered as ISRCTN11634810., Funding: This award was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme (NIHR award ref: 16/111/91) and is published in full in Health Technology Assessment ; Vol. 28, No. 39. See the NIHR Funding and Awards website for further award information.

COVID-19 vaccines have been linked to myocarditis, which, in some circumstances, can be fatal. This systematic review aims to investigate potential causal links between COVID-19 vaccines and death from myocarditis using post-mortem analysis. We performed a systematic review of all published autopsy reports involving COVID-19 vaccination-induced myocarditis through 3 July 2023. All autopsy studies that include COVID-19 vaccine-induced myocarditis as a possible cause of death were included. Causality in each case was assessed by three independent physicians with cardiac pathology experience and expertise. We initially identified 1691 studies and, after screening for our inclusion criteria, included 14 papers that contained 28 autopsy cases. The cardiovascular system was the only organ system affected in 26 cases. In two cases, myocarditis was characterized as a consequence from multisystem inflammatory syndrome. The mean age of death was 44.4 years old. The mean and median number of days from last COVID-19 vaccination until death were 6.2 and 3 days, respectively. We established that all 28 deaths were most likely causally linked to COVID-19 vaccination by independent review of the clinical information presented in each paper. The temporal relationship, internal and external consistency seen among cases in this review with known COVID-19 vaccine-induced myocarditis, its pathobiological mechanisms, and related excess death, complemented with autopsy confirmation, independent adjudication, and application of the Bradford Hill criteria to the overall epidemiology of vaccine myocarditis, suggests that there is a high likelihood of a causal link between COVID-19 vaccines and death from myocarditis., (© 2024 The Authors. ESC Heart Failure published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Society of Cardiology.)

There is limited research comparing the presentation of autism in deaf and hearing children and young people. These comparisons are important to facilitate accurate diagnosis, as rates of misdiagnosis and delay in diagnosis amongst deaf children and young people are high. The aim of this study was to compare diagnostic assessment profiles of a UK cohort of autistic deaf and hearing children and young people. The Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised-Deaf adaptation was completed with the parents of 106 children and young people (deaf children = 65; hearing children = 41). The majority of items explored showed no significant differences between deaf and hearing children and young people. Differences were found in peer relationships, where autistic deaf participants were less likely to respond to the approaches of other children or play imaginatively with peers. These findings need to be taken into consideration by clinicians in the assessment process.

Lay Abstract: Autism assessment processes need to improve for deaf children as they are currently being diagnosed later than their hearing counterparts and misdiagnosis can occur. We took one of the most commonly used parent developmental interviews for autism spectrum disorder the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised and adapted it using international expert advice. Modifications were proposed and agreed by the expert panel for 45% of items; the remaining 55% of items were unchanged. We then tested the revised version, adapted for deaf children (Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised Deaf Adaptation), in a UK sample of 78 parents/carers of deaf children with autism spectrum disorder and 126 parents/carers with deaf children without autism spectrum disorder. When compared to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline standard clinical assessments, the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised Deaf Adaptation diagnostic algorithm threshold scores could identify those deaf children with a definite diagnosis (true autism spectrum disorder positives) well (sensitivity of 89% (79%-96%)) and those deaf children who did not have autism spectrum disorder (true autism spectrum disorder negatives) well (specificity of 81% (70%-89%)). Our findings indicate that the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised Deaf Adaptation is likely to prove a useful measure for the assessment of deaf children with suspected autism spectrum disorder and that further research would be helpful.

We report a Delphi Consensus modification and first validation study of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule - 2 with deaf children and young people (ADOS-2 Deaf adaptation). Validation included 122 deaf participants (aged 2-18 years), 63 with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This was compared to a National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guideline standard clinical assessment by blinded independent specialist clinicians. Results showed overall sensitivity 73% (95%CI 60%, 83%); specificity 71% (95%CI 58%, 82%), and for the more common modules 1-3 (combined as in previous studies) sensitivity 79% (95% CI 65-89%); specificity 79% (95% CI 66-89%) suggesting this instrument will be a helpful addition for use with deaf children and young people., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

A Delphi consensus methodology was used to adapt a screening tool, the Social Responsiveness Scale- 2 (SRS-2), for use with deaf children including those whose preferred communication method is sign language. Using this approach; 27 international experts (The Delphi International Expert Panel), on the topic of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in deaf people, contributed to the review of item content. A criterion for agreement was set at 80% of experts on each item (with 75% acceptable in the final fourth round). The agreed modifications are discussed. The modified SRS-2 research adaptation for deaf people (referred to here as the "SRS-2 Deaf adaptation") was then translated into British Sign Language using a robust translation methodology and validated in England in a sample of 198 deaf children, 76 with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and 122 without ASD. The SRS-2 Deaf adaptation was compared blind to a NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) guideline standard clinical assessment. The area under the Receiver Operating (ROC) curve was 0.811 (95% CI: 0.753, 0.869), with an optimal cut-off value of 73, which gave a sensitivity of 82% and a specificity of 67%. The Cronbach Alpha coefficient was 0.968 suggesting high internal consistency. The Intraclass Correlation Coefficient was 0.897, supporting test-retest reliability. This performance is equivalent to similar instruments used for screening ASD in the hearing population., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Background: There has been a recent reported rise in prevalence of mental health problems among children in the United Kingdom, alongside increased referrals into specialist services. There is a need for up-to-date information regarding changing trends of young people's mental health to allow for improved understanding and service planning., Objectives: This article aims to provide an overview of the current mental health and well-being of years 8, 9 and 11 secondary school-aged pupils from two large regions in the North of England., Method: This was a cohort cross-sectional study. Measures including the Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire, the EQ-5D-Y, social media use questions, and a mental health service use questionnaire were completed by participants., Results: In total, 6328 questionnaires were returned from 21 secondary schools. One in 10 participating pupils scored 'very high' for total mental health difficulties. Significant differences on well-being scores were found between both gender and year groups., Conclusion: In recent years, the proportion of children facing mental health problems has increased. In particular, high levels of female pupils and year 11 pupils report facing difficulties. It is important to develop targeted, accessible interventions, and to continue to collect up-to-date measures for this population.

We report the development of an assay to simultaneously identify three of the clinically important flaviviruses (West Nile Virus, Dengue, and St. Louis encephalitis). This assay is based on the nucleotide sequence variations within a 266-bp region of the non-structural protein 5. Further, based on the nucleotide variations in the same region of the non-structural protein 5, four of the present Dengue serotypes were identified. To identify some of the subtypes of WNV we have developed a second assay using multiplex sequencing technology. The format of the result of this assay is an electropherogram of two genomic segments of the WNV genome: a 48-nucleotide sequence from the anchored core protein C and a 45-nucleotide sequence coding for the non-structural proteins (proteinase and putative helicase genes).

Background: Clinical samples were distributed on 10 occasions to six UK laboratories that perform urinary steroid profile analysis. Urine samples were from normal adult men and women, normal children and neonates. Samples from patients with Cushing's syndrome, virilization, adrenarche, obesity and congenital adrenal hyperplasia (21 and 17-hydroxylase defects) were also used for evaluation., Methods: Samples were analysed by capillary column gas chromatography (all laboratories) after hydrolysis of conjugates and derivative formation (five laboratories) or by variation of 17-oxogenic steroid methodology (one laboratory)., Results: For each distribution of samples, the performance of the participants was compared for quantitative analysis, and user comments were summarized. Quantitative results showed variation without necessarily biasing the result. Comments varied considerably in length. The interpretations did not always lead to a clear diagnosis or advise about appropriate further tests., Conclusions: This pilot urine steroid profiling scheme has clearly identified the requirement for external quality assessment. It is now hoped to offer this scheme worldwide in collaboration with the European Research Network for the Evaluation and Improvement of Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment of Inherited Disorders of Metabolism (ERNDIM).

The recent severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak resulted in calls for an accurate diagnostic test that can be used not only for routine testing but also for generating nucleotide sequences to monitor the epidemic. Although the identity of the SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) genome was confirmed by DNA sequencing, it is impractical to sequence the entire 29-kb SARS-CoV genome on a routine basis. Therefore, alternative assay methods such as the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and PCR have been pursued for routine testing, primarily to resolve probable cases. We report here a modification of standard DNA sequencing technology for accurate identification of SARS-CoV in routine testing. Instead of requiring the sequencing of the whole SARS-CoV genome, our modification enables the simultaneous sequencing of three regions of the SARS-CoV genome, the spike protein-encoding gene (35 nucleotides), gene M (43 nucleotides), and gene N (45 nucleotides), in a single electropherogram. Comparing these nucleotide sequences to DNA databank entries (National Institutes of Health) conclusively identified them as SARS-CoV sequences.

MULTIGEN technology (T. Vinayagamoorthy, U.S. patent 6,197,510, March 2001) is a modification of conventional sequencing technology that generates a single electropherogram consisting of short nucleotide sequences from a mixture of known DNA targets. The target sequences may be present on the same or different nucleic acid molecules. For example, when two DNA targets are sequenced, the first and second sequencing primers are annealed to their respective target sequences, and then a polymerase causes chain extension by the addition of new deoxyribose nucleotides. Since the electrophoretic separation depends on the relative molecular weights of the truncated molecules, the molecular weight of the second sequencing primer was specifically designed to be higher than the combined molecular weight of the first sequencing primer plus the molecular weight of the largest truncated molecule generated from the first target sequence. Thus, the series of truncated molecules produced by the second sequencing primer will have higher molecular weights than those produced by the first sequencing primer. Hence, the truncated molecules produced by these two sequencing primers can be effectively separated in a single lane by standard gel electrophoresis in a single electropherogram without any overlapping of the nucleotide sequences. By using sequencing primers with progressively higher molecular weights, multiple short DNA sequences from a variety of targets can be determined simultaneously. We describe here the basic concept of MULTIGEN technology and three applications: detection of sexually transmitted pathogens (Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, and Ureaplasma urealyticum), detection of contaminants in meat samples (coliforms, fecal coliforms, and Escherichia coli O157:H7), and detection of single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the human N-acetyltransferase (NAT1) gene (S. Fronhoffs et al., Carcinogenesis 22:1405-1412, 2001).