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Eighty-two Australians (mean age = 30.07; 61% female) were blindly randomized to view either a video edited to depict a positive or negative presentation of individuals in recovery from methamphetamine use disorder. Participants completed the Social Distance Scale for Substance Users, Dangerousness Scale for Substance Users and Affect Scale for Substance Users before and after video exposure. Following video exposure, those exposed to the positive video portrayal reported lower desire for social distance (p <.001), lower perceptions of dangerousness (p =.011), and more favorable affective reactions (p <.001). Participants' previous level of contact with the target group did not predict baseline stigma or moderate the experimental effect. Participants' qualitative responses to the experiment were assessed via content analysis and indicated mainly positive or ambivalent attitudes, unchanged by the video; however, 18% of those receiving the positive video reported attitudes becoming more sympathetic/favorable. Findings suggest that media depictions which include people with methamphetamine use disorder displaying friendliness and recovery narratives may improve community perceptions of people recovering from methamphetamine use disorder, and conversely, unsmiling portrayals focusing on harm done to others increases desire for social distance and perceived dangerousness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cryptococcal meningitis (CM) is a leading cause of HIV-related mortality. Based on phase-II study data showing that a single high-dose of 10 mg/kg liposomal amphotericin-B (AmBisome, Gilead Sciences Inc) [...]

Objectives Anaemia represents a common toxicity with amphotericin B-based induction therapy in HIV-infected persons with cryptococcal meningitis. We sought to examine the impact of amphotericin-related anaemia on survival. Methods We used data from Ugandan and South African trial participants to characterize the variation of haemoglobin concentrations from diagnosis to 12 weeks post-diagnosis. Anaemia severity was classified based on the haemoglobin concentration at cryptococcal meningitis diagnosis, and nadir haemoglobin values during amphotericin induction. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate 2- and 10-week mortality risk. We also estimated 10-week mortality risk among participants with nadir haemoglobin < 8.5 g/ dL during amphotericin induction and who survived ≥ 2 weeks post-enrolment. Results The median haemoglobin concentration at meningitis diagnosis was 11.5 g/ dL [interquartile range ( IQR) 9.7-13 g/ dL; n = 311] with a mean decline of 4.2 g/ dL [95% confidence interval ( CI) −4.6 to −3.8; P < 0.001; n = 148] from diagnosis to nadir value among participants with baseline haemoglobin ≥ 8.5 g/ dL. The median haemoglobin concentration was 8.1 g/ dL ( IQR 6.5-9.5 g/ dL) at 2 weeks, increasing to 9.4 g/ dL ( IQR 8.2-10.9 g/ dL) by 4 weeks and continuing to increase to 12 weeks. Among participants with haemoglobin < 8.5 g/ dL at diagnosis, mortality risk was elevated at 2 weeks [hazard ratio ( HR) 2.7; 95% CI 1.5-4.9; P < 0.01] and 10 weeks ( HR 1.8; 95% CI 1.1-2.2; P = 0.03), relative to those with haemoglobin ≥ 8.5 g/ dL. New-onset anaemia occurring with amphotericin therapy did not have a statistically significant association with 10-week mortality ( HR 2.0; 95% CI 0.5-9.1; P = 0.4). Conclusions Amphotericin induced significant haemoglobin declines, which were mostly transient and did not impact 10-week mortality. Individuals with moderate to life-threatening anaemia at baseline had a higher mortality risk at 2 and 10 weeks post-enrolment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A functional polymorphism (the upstream variable-number tandem repeat region, or uVNTR) in the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) promoter region has been reported to be associated with behavioral abnormalities as well as increased serotonergic responsivity. We examined the relation between MAOA-uVNTR alleles and the phenotypic expression of autism in 41 males younger than 12.6 years of age. Children with the low-activity MAOA allele had both lower intelligence quotients (IQ) and more severe autistic behavior than children with the high-activity allele. In follow-up testing of 34 of the males at the 1-year time-point, those with the low-activity allele showed a worsening in IQ but no change in the severity of their autistic behavior. We conclude that functional MAOA-uVNTR alleles may act as a genetic modifier of the severity of autism in males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catherine A Schütz,1,* Davide Staedler,2,* Kieran Crosbie-Staunton,3 Dania Movia,4 Catherine Chapuis Bernasconi,1 Blanka Halamoda Kenzaoui,1 Adriele Prina-Mello,3,4 Lucienne Juillerat-Jeanneret11Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), UNIL, 2Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, EPFL, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland; 3School of Medicine, 4CRANN, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland*These authors contributed equally to this workAbstract: Therapeutic engineered nanoparticles (NPs), including ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide (USPIO) NPs, may accumulate in the lower digestive tract following ingestion or injection. In order to evaluate the reaction of human colon cells to USPIO NPs, the effects of non-stabilized USPIO NPs (NS-USPIO NPs), oleic-acid-stabilized USPIO NPs (OA-USPIO NPs), and free oleic acid (OA) were compared in human HT29 and CaCo2 colon epithelial cancer cells. First the biophysical characteristics of NS-USPIO NPs and OA-USPIO NPs in water, in cell culture medium supplemented with fetal calf serum, and in cell culture medium preconditioned by HT29 and CaCo2 cells were determined. Then, stress responses of the cells were evaluated following exposure to NS-USPIO NPs, OA-USPIO NPs, and free OA. No modification of the cytoskeletal actin network was observed. Cell response to stress, including markers of apoptosis and DNA repair, oxidative stress and degradative/autophagic stress, induction of heat shock protein, or lipid metabolism was determined in cells exposed to the two NPs. Induction of an autophagic response was observed in the two cell lines for both NPs but not free OA, while the other stress responses were cell- and NP-specific. The formation of lipid vacuoles/droplets was demonstrated in HT29 and CaCo2 cells exposed to OA-USPIO NPs but not to NS-USPIO NPs, and to a much lower level in cells exposed to equimolar concentrations of free OA. Therefore, the induction of lipid vacuoles in colon cells exposed to OA utilized as a stabilizer for USPIO NPs is higly amplified compared to free OA, and is not observed in the absence of this lipid in NS-USPIO NPs.Keywords: oleic acid, ultrasmall iron oxide nanoparticles, human colon cells, lipid vacuoles, stress reaction, heat shock proteins

To design effective and efficient fish passage facilities at hydropower plants, the knowledge of swim behaviour of fish is essential. Therefore, living wild fish were investigated at different fish guidance structures in an experimental flume in a test section of 11 m length and 2.5 m width at water depths of about 0.6 m. Besides analysis of time data and manual recordings of the fish behaviour, video recordings of the fish movements can allow more detailed analysis of fish behaviour in different hydraulic situations. Thus, a videometry system was installed consisting of eleven synchronous cameras with overlapping views lined-up under dry conditions outside the flume. A 3D tracking algorithm was developed and implemented to analyse the video data. Core of the code is a motion-based multiple object tracking method, in which several objects can be tracked in 2D pixel-frame coordinates at the same time. After undistorting and stereo-calibrating the cameras, the 2D tracks are transferred to a 3D metric-space according to their epipolar geometry. Within this paper video data from a single experimental run of 15 min with three fishes with lengths of 100–150 mm are analysed exemplarily. The path-time diagram gives a distinct ‘big picture’ of the fish movement, which helps to identify preferred and disliked regions. However, due to imperfect actual camera setup, a 3D view in the near field of the cameras and an automated separation of individual tracks in a group of fish remains challenging.