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Background: The Populations Underrepresented in Mental illness Association Studies (PUMAS) project is attempting to remediate the historical underrepresentation of African and Latin American populations in psychiatric genetics through large-scale genetic association studies of individuals diagnosed with a serious mental illness [SMI, including schizophrenia (SCZ), schizoaffective disorder (SZA) bipolar disorder (BP), and severe major depressive disorder (MDD)] and matched controls. Given growing evidence indicating substantial symptomatic and genetic overlap between these diagnoses, we sought to enable transdiagnostic genetic analyses of PUMAS data by conducting phenotype alignment and harmonization for 89,320 participants (48,165 cases and 41,155 controls) from four cohorts, each of which used different ascertainment and assessment methods: PAISA n=9,105; PUMAS-LATAM n=14,638; NGAP n=42,953 and GPC n=22,624. As we describe here, these efforts have yielded harmonized datasets enabling us to analyze PUMAS genetic variation data at three levels: SMI overall, diagnoses, and individual symptoms., Methods: In aligning item-level phenotypes obtained from 14 different clinical instruments, we incorporated content, branching nature, and time frame for each phenotype; standardized diagnoses; and selected 19 core SMI item-level phenotypes for analyses. The harmonization was evaluated in PUMAS cases using multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), co-occurrence analyses, and item-level endorsement., Outcomes: We mapped >6,895 item-level phenotypes in the aggregated PUMAS data, in which SCZ (44.97%) and severe BP (BP-I, 31.53%) were the most common diagnoses. Twelve of the 19 core item-level phenotypes occurred at frequencies of > 10% across all diagnoses, indicating their potential utility for transdiagnostic genetic analyses. MCA of the 14 phenotypes that were present for all cohorts revealed consistency across cohorts, and placed MDD and SCZ into separate clusters, while other diagnoses showed no significant phenotypic clustering., Interpretation: Our alignment strategy effectively aggregated extensive phenotypic data obtained using diverse assessment tools. The MCA yielded dimensional scores which we will use for genetic analyses along with the item level phenotypes. After successful harmonization, residual phenotypic heterogeneity between cohorts reflects differences in branching structure of diagnostic instruments, recruitment strategies, and symptom interpretation (due to cultural variation).

Objective: To review the evidence that childhood is a period of particular susceptibility to the carcinogenic effects of solar radiation., Methods: Studies were identified through searches of computerized bibliographic databases and article reference lists. Eligible studies were those that reported risks of melanoma associated with sun exposure during two or more age-periods., Results: The measurement of childhood sun exposure varied across studies, preventing formal meta-analysis for most measures. We found that the way in which sun exposure was measured led to strikingly different conclusions regarding the association between age-specific sun exposure and risk of melanoma. Ecological studies assessing ambient sun exposure consistently reported lower risks of melanoma among people who resided in a low ultraviolet (UV) environment in childhood compared with those who resided in a high UV environment. In contrast, case-control studies differed widely in their findings, and no consistent associations with childhood sun exposure were observed., Conclusions: Ecological studies provided better-quality evidence than case-control studies for examining the effects of exposure to sunlight during specific age periods. Exposure to high levels of sunlight in childhood is a strong determinant of melanoma risk, but sun exposure in adulthood also plays a role.

A study was conducted to determine the prevalence and determinants of sun-protection practices in a sample of the non-Aboriginal population at the outdoor weekend markets in subequatorial Darwin, Northern Territory, at a time of intense sun exposure, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. from August to October 1992. All non-Aboriginal market-attenders who were seated within defined areas adjacent to food stalls were eligible to participate. Of 106 eligible market attenders, 105 (99 per cent) agreed to participate. Overall, fewer than 20 per cent of persons in this setting of extreme sun exposure were wearing sunscreen and less than one-third were wearing a hat. Only 44 per cent of people with a past history of skin cancer sitting in the midday sun had applied sunscreen and 61 per cent were wearing a hat; however, this was significantly more than those not reporting skin cancer (P < 0.002). The longer people had lived in the Northern Territory (compared with visitors and short-term residents) the less likely they were to have applied sunscreen in preparation for the midday sun (trend chi 2 = 3.99, P = 0.046). No association was demonstrated between the use of sunscreen and age or sex of the respondent. These results suggest that the sun-protection practices of visitors to the Northern Territory are less than optimal, and that among the longer-term residents of the Northern Territory who are at greatest risk of developing skin cancer, precautions against sun exposure could be greatly improved.

Diets containing 20% of air-dried anaerobically digested Fort Collins sewage sludge were fed to broiler chicks. The diets were balanced in protein and had the same vitamin and mineral supplement. The sludge diets containing approximately 2,500 ME kcal/kg compared to 3,000 ME kcal/kg in the control feed. Birds gained less body weight on sludge diets and liver vitamin A levels were reduced. Extrusion of cord-sludge mixture prior to diet formulations made the diet much poorer for supporting growth, reduced feed efficiency, and lowered liver vitamin A levels. It was concluded that ingestion of the sewage sludge impaired the utilization of vitamin A from the diet.