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The brown marmorated stink bug ( BMSB), Halyomorpha halys ( Stål), native to Northeastern Asia, is a serious invasive pest in the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Germany and France. Several common essential oils and their compositions were tested against BMSBs as potential repellents. All the tested individual essential oils and a ternary oil blend showed significant repellency to both BMSB nymphs and adults. Clove oil, lemongrass oil, spearmint oil, ylang-ylang oil, and the ternary oil mixture (clove, lemongrass and spearmint) almost completely blocked attraction of BMSBs to the stink bug attractant-baited traps; whereas wintergreen oil, geranium oil, pennyroyal oil and rosemary oil resulted in 60-85% trap catch reductions. Over 20 BMSB antennally active compounds were identified from SPME headspace samples of the eight repellent essential oils using GC- EAD and GC- MS techniques. Among the synthetic EAD-active compounds tested in the field, eugenol, l-carvone, p/l-menthone, pulegone, methyl salicylate, trans/ cis-citral, methyl benzoate and β-caryophyllene significantly reduced trap catches of BMSBs by 72-99%; these compounds are likely responsible for the repellency of their corresponding essential oils. Surprisingly, a synthetic mixture of the predacious spined soldier bug ( SSB) [ Podisus maculiventris (Say)] aggregation pheromone ( trans-2-hexenal, α-terpineol and benzyl alcohol) also showed a significant inhibition of BMSB response to its attractants. These repellent essential oils and their active compounds, as well as the synthetic SSB pheromone, are potentially useful as part of an efficient, environmentally sound semiochemical-based IPM programme to combat this serious invasive stink bug. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Understanding the prevalence, incidence and cofactors of depression among long-term elderly nursing home (LTNH) residents domiciled for eight months or more may help optimize depression treatment in this vulnerable group. We quantified first year depression in American LTNH residents and the associations between depression and resident/facility characteristics., Methods: Data were obtained from the Minimum Data Set and Online Survey Certification and Reporting for 634,060 LTNH residents admitted from 1999 to 2005 in 4,216 facilities. Depression first diagnosed at admission and at subsequent quarterly intervals through the first year of stay was examined. Logistic regressions modeled correlates of newly identified depression in each time-period., Results: Recorded depression at admission and during the first year increased from 1999 to 2005. By 2005, 54.4% of LTNH residents had depression diagnosed over the first year; 32.8% at admission and a further 21.6% later during the first year. Antidepressant use was reported prior to depression diagnosis for 48% of those first identified depressed after admission. Men, non-Hispanic blacks, never married, and severely-cognitively impaired LTNH residents were less often identified with depression, particularly at admission. Pain and physical comorbidity were positively associated with depression identified throughout the first year. Prior institutionalization was associated with depression at admission, but not new depression after admission. Facility characteristics had weaker associations with depression., Conclusions: High depression rates at admission and during the first year indicate a need to monitor and treat large numbers of American LTNH residents for depression. Reduced associations between demographics and depression as stays progress suggest other factors have increased roles in depression etiology.

The possibility that an agent in addition to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) may contribute to the etiology of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in persons with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was studied using participants from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) of homosexual and bisexual men enrolled in 1984-1985 and also in 1987-1991. A nested case-control analysis was conducted. The primary source of information on potential exposures and characteristics of the participants was the baseline study entry interview that was conducted prior to the development of AIDS. A total of 84 cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were identified and compared with 527 participants who developed AIDS but had no evidence of cancer. The groups were similar for most sociodemographic characteristics as well as sexual activity and past history of antecedent illnesses. Although the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cases reported less frequent use of recreational drugs and cigarettes compared with other persons with AIDS, these differences were not significant. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cases reported more frequent intake of aspirin during the week before the interview. However, there were no differences between the comparison groups for long-term aspirin intake or intake of other analgesics. The absence of any specific and strong association between non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and the various behavior-related activities and exposures considered in this analysis suggests that these factors are not related to a second agent in the etiology of HIV-induced non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The possibility that a very common agent in this study population or that differences in the nature of the immune dysfunction resulting from HIV infection could act as a cofactor for HIV-induced non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cannot be excluded.

To determine whether the excess prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection in US black and Hispanic homosexual men relative to white men can be explained by differences in sociodemographic factors, history of sexually transmitted diseases, or sexual and drug-use behaviors, the authors conducted a cross-sectional analysis of baseline HIV-1 seroprevalence and HIV-1 risk factors among 4,475 non-Hispanic white, 234 Hispanic white, and 194 black homosexual men from four centers in the United States (Baltimore/Washington, DC, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Los Angeles). HIV-1 seroprevalence was significantly higher in Hispanic men (50%; odds ratio (OR) = 1.83, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.41-2.39) and black men (47%; OR = 1.62, 95% CI 1.21-2.16) compared with white men (35%). Both Hispanic and black men more frequently reported a history of sexually transmitted diseases. Overall, Hispanics had the highest risk profile and blacks the lowest risk profile with respect to certain high-risk sexual behaviors (e.g., receptive anal intercourse and use of anonymous sexual partners) and recreational drug use. After multivariate adjustment, black race remained a significant independent risk factor for HIV-1 seropositivity (OR = 1.60, 95% CI 1.13-2.26), but Hispanic ethnicity was no longer statistically significant (OR = 1.17, 95% CI 0.82-1.69). Most of the excess HIV-1 prevalent infection among Hispanics was explained by their predominant recruitment from Los Angeles--the study center with the highest HIV-1 seroprevalence--and their greater prevalence of a history of sexually transmitted diseases and certain high-risk sexual practices. By contrast, adjustment for these same risk behaviors failed to explain the observed black-white differences in HIV-1 seroprevalence, and further studies are needed to elucidate the reasons for these unexplained racial differences. HIV-1 educational programs for homosexual men should take into account the behavioral differences that exist between white and minority racial/ethnic groups.

The possibility that an agent in addition to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 may be involved in the etiology of Kaposi's sarcoma in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients was investigated between 1984 and 1992 in this nested case-control analysis from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) of homosexual and bisexual men. A total of 316 cases of Kaposi's sarcoma were identified and compared with 510 participants with AIDS and no evidence of cancer. More of the Kaposi's sarcoma cases were from Los Angeles and used a higher number of recreational drugs. The Kaposi's sarcoma cases were also more active sexually. There was a dose-response relation between Kaposi's sarcoma and the number of sexual partners, with an odds ratio of 2 between the most and least sexually active subgroups. The odds ratio for Kaposi's sarcoma increased to 4.18 (95% confidence interval 1.29-14.1) in the presence of a history of five infections. Hepatitis and gonorrhea contributed the most to this relation. The various observed odds ratios did not change after multivariate adjustment for the other risk factors. A model was developed combining all predictive associations into a composite risk score ranging from one to 12 and based on history of infections, sexual activity, use of poppers/nitrites, and having had sexual partners from the West Coast of the United States. The subgroup with the highest scores, compared to the subgroup with the lowest score, had an odds ratio of 8.93 (95% confidence interval 3.21-30.44) for Kaposi's sarcoma. A longitudinal proportional hazards analysis among all 2,190 human immunodeficiency virus type 1-seroprevalent men at study entry, based on this risk score and CD4 cells at baseline, confirmed these findings. Identifying these specific subgroups that are at high and low risk for Kaposi's sarcoma will help future investigations to be more focused in their search for an additional etiologic factor for Kaposi's sarcoma in AIDS.

The authors separately studied the epidemiology (risk and risk factors) of Kaposi's sarcoma occurring as an initial acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) outcome (early Kaposi's sarcoma) and later after a different initial AIDS outcome (later Kaposi's sarcoma) in a cohort of 2,591 human immunodeficiency virus type 1-infected gay men of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study between 1984 and 1992. Among 844 AIDS cases, 202 presented with early Kaposi's sarcoma, 101 subsequently developed later Kaposi's sarcoma, and 541 were not diagnosed with Kaposi's sarcoma. Overall, 37.4% of AIDS cases were diagnosed with Kaposi's sarcoma prior to death. Kaposi's sarcoma diagnosed on the skin was significantly more common with early Kaposi's sarcoma (77.3%) than with later Kaposi's sarcoma (65.1%). Men presenting with an AIDS outcome other than Kaposi's sarcoma were at high risk for later Kaposi's sarcoma. Later Kaposi's sarcoma onset in men with a previous AIDS outcome was associated with the following characteristics: 1) lower immune status prior to AIDS and 2) longer post-AIDS survival. A Kaposi's sarcoma diagnosis in a man with a previous AIDS illness approximately doubled the risk (hazard) for death. Histories of urethral gonorrhea and scabies prior to study entry were more common in early Kaposi's sarcoma cases than in later Kaposi's sarcoma cases. However, self-reported sexual activity at study entry and prior to AIDS onset was highest in the later Kaposi's sarcoma group. In this cohort, cigarette smoking had a protective association against all Kaposi's sarcoma in univariate and multivariate models. Only 21.0% of the later Kaposi's sarcoma and 25.0% of the early Kaposi's sarcoma men smoked at least one-half pack of cigarettes daily at study entry compared with 33.8% of non-Kaposi's sarcoma and 35.5% of seroprevalent men still AIDS free. The reasons for this surprising association are unclear. However, other evidence which documents that habitual smoking alters the immune system (and possibly cytokine levels) in ways that could perhaps influence Kaposi's sarcoma pathogenesis should be considered.