A suite of multiplexed microsatellite loci for the ground beetle Abax parallelepipedus (Piller and Mitterpacher, 1783) (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

We report two sets of polymorphic, multiplexed microsatellite markers for the ground beetle Abax parallelepipedus. As the species is flightless, restricted to forests and affected by habitat fragmentation it can serve as a model species for landscape and conservation genetics. A complete set of 20 loci can be amplified in five PCR reactions and sequenced in two rounds, and a subset of 14 loci can be analyzed together in one PCR run and one sequencing round. In a scan of 3,432 individuals from across Germany using the 14 loci subset, we found between three and 14 alleles per locus. After accounting for two loci that are apparently sex-linked, no significant deviations from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium were found. None of the loci showed evidence for the presence of null alleles. No overall linkage disequilibrium was detected. Some of the loci can also be used to study other Abax species.     

Residential transitions from nursing homes for adults with cerebral palsy

Purpose: The impact of moving out of nursing homes into community-based settings for adults with cerebral palsy was assessed by comparing the health and community functioning of movers and non-movers at time 1 and 3 years later at time 2. Subjects: The sample included 83 non-movers and 28 movers age 30 years and older who initially were living in nursing homes. The majority of residents had severe to profound mental retardation. The movers transferred to 15 communitybased settings between 1 and 3 years (mean of 2 years) prior to the time 2 assessment. Assessments of residents at baseline and at follow-up included health measures (health status, health limits, mobility limits, days hospitalized and depression) and community functioning measures (adaptive functioning, maladaptive behaviour, community inclusion, day programme hours and monthly wages). Results: Findings indicated that movers showed benefits in terms of improved health and community functioning. For movers, health status, mobility limitations, and community inclusion improved, while there were no significant changes for non-movers. This research corroborates previous research on the effects of deinstitutionalization and expands its implications to a group with severe disabilities.     

Review: Can we identify how programmes aimed at promoting self‐management in musculoskeletal pain work and who benefits? A systematic review of sub‐group analysis within RCTs

Background: There are now several systematic reviews of RCTs testing self‐management for those with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Evidence for the effectiveness of self‐management interventions in chronic musculoskeletal pain is equivocal and it is not clear for which sub‐groups of patients SM is optimally effective. Aims: To systematically review randomized controlled trials of self‐management for chronic musculoskeletal pain that reported predictors, i.e., ‘baseline factors that predict outcome independent of any treatment effect’; moderators, i.e., ‘baseline factors which predict benefit from a particular treatment’; or mediators i.e., ‘factors measured during treatment that impact on outcome’ of outcome. Method: We searched relevant electronic databases. We assessed the evidence according to the methodological strengths of the studies. We did meta‐regression analyses for age and gender, as potential moderators. Results: Although the methodological quality of primary trials was good, there were few relevant studies; most were compromised by lack of power for moderator and mediator analyses. We found strong evidence that self‐efficacy and depression at baseline predict outcome and strong evidence that pain catastrophizing and physical activity can mediate outcome from self‐management. There was insufficient data on moderators of treatment. Conclusions: The current evidence suggests four factors that relate to outcome as predictors/mediators, but there is no evidence for effect moderators. Future studies of mediation and moderation should be designed with ‘a priori’ hypotheses and adequate statistical power.     

Adolescents on the Front Line: Exposure to Shelling Via Television and the Parental Role

Objectives: Research suggests that exposure to traumatic content via television inadvertently increases posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) as well as psychological distress, especially among adolescent viewers. The aim of the current study was to assess the effect of news consumption on PTSS and general distress among adolescents who live in a war area, as well as to examine the role of parents as intermediaries of news broadcasting. Method: A total of 65 adolescents who live in a war zone filled out the Child Post Traumatic Stress Reaction Index, the Brief Symptoms Inventory, and a scale measuring the level of real-life exposure, news broadcast consumption, and parents as intermediaries of news broadcasting. Results: A main effect for real-life exposure on both PTSS and general distress was revealed. Interestingly, a three-way interaction between real-life exposure, television exposure, and parents as intermediators was found for general distress. Only under low real-life exposure did parents as intermediaries buffer the effect of television exposure on general distress. Conclusions: Parental intermediation of news broadcasting of traumatic events, especially in situations of continuous, real-life exposure, is essential.     

Oncotype Dx recurrence score among BRCA1/2 germline mutation carriers with hormone receptors positive breast cancer

Gene expression assays are widely used to predict risk of recurrence in early breast cancer (BC). We report the 21‐gene expression assay (Oncotype Dx) recurrence score (RS) distribution of 27 BRCA carriers with estrogen receptor (ER) positive BCs, identified at Hadassah Medical Center, combined with 2 previous studies. Treatment decision and outcomes of the 27 BRCA carriers were compared with an Israeli cohort of 1594 patients published recently. We found Oncotype Dx RS low (<18), intermediate (18–30) and high (>30) among 12 (21.4%), 23 (41.1%) and 21 (37.5%) of 56 BRCA1 carriers compared with 15 (17.2%), 49 (56.3%) and 23 (26.4%) of 87 BRCA2 carriers (p = 0.2). The corresponding distribution in a population of 82,434 women published by Genomic Health was 53.4%, 36.3% and 10.3% for low, intermediate and high RS (p < 0.001 for BRCA1 and BRCA2). Treatment decision regarding chemotherapy according to RS was similar in BRCA1, BRCA2 and the control group. Two of 27 carriers had distant recurrence: a BRCA1 carrier with RS of 18 and a BRCA2 carrier with RS of 22; both have an excellent response to chemotherapy. We found an approximately ～3 fold increased rate of high RS among BRCA1 and 2 carriers with ER positive BC compared with the general BC population. These data might indicate that hormone positive BC in BRCA carriers are molecularly unique. The surprisingly good response to chemotherapy in the metastatic setting in 2 patients may suggest that the predictive value of low‐intermediate RS in carriers merits further studies.