Your fate is in your hands? Handedness,digit ratio (2D:4D), and selection to a national talent development system

Over the past decade a small evidence base has highlighted the potential importance of seemingly innocuous variables related to one's hands, such as hand dominance and the relative length of the second and fourth digits (2D:4D ratio), to success in sport. This study compared 2D:4D digit ratio and handedness among handball players selected to advance in a national talent development system with those not selected. Participants included 480 youth handball players (240 females and 240 males) being considered as part of the talent selection programme for the German Youth National team. Hand dominance and digit ratio were compared to age-matched control data using standard t-tests. There was a greater proportion of left-handers compared to the normal population in males but not in females. There was also a lower digit ratio in both females and males. However, there were no differences between those selected for the next stage of talent development and those not selected on either handedness or digit ratio. These results add support for general effects for both digit ratio and handedness in elite handball; however, these factors seem inadequate to explain talent selection decisions at this level.     

Simple and reproducible hepatectomy in the mouse using the clip technique

AIM: To investigate the reliability of massive hepatectomy models by using clip techniques.METHODS: We analyzed anatomical findings in 100 mice following massive hepatectomy induced by liver reduction > 70%. The impact of various factors in the different models was also analyzed, including learning curves, operative time, survival curves, and histopathological findings.RESULTS: According to anatomical results, models with 75%, 80%, and 90% hepatectomy produced massive hepatectomy. Learning curves and operative times were most optimal with the clip technique. Each hepatectomy performed using the clip technique produced a reasonable survival curve, and there were no differences in histopathological findings between the suture and clip techniques.CONCLUSION: Massive hepatectomy by the clip technique is simple and can provide reliable and relevant data.     

Introgression of a synthetic sex ratio distortion transgene into different genetic backgrounds of Anopheles coluzzii

The development of genetically modified mosquitoes (GMM) and their subsequent field release offers innovative approaches for vector control of malaria. A non-gene drive self-limiting male-bias Ag(PMB)1 strain has been developed in a 47-year-old laboratory G3 strain of Anopheles gambiae s.l. When Ag(PMB)1 males are crossed to wild-type females, expression of the endonuclease I-PpoI during spermatogenesis causes the meiotic cleavage of the X chromosome in sperm cells, leading to fertile offspring with a 95% male bias. However, World Health Organization states that the functionality of the transgene could differ when inserted in different genetic backgrounds of Anopheles coluzzii which is currently a predominant species in several West-African countries and thus a likely recipient for a potential release of self-limiting GMMs. In this study, we introgressed the transgene from the donor Ag(PMB)1 by six serial backcrosses into two recipient colonies of An. coluzzii that had been isolated in Mali and Burkina Faso. Scans of informative Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) markers and whole-genome sequencing analysis revealed a nearly complete introgression of chromosomes 3 and X, but a remarkable genomic divergence in a large region of chromosome 2 between the later backcrossed (BC6) transgenic offspring and the recipient paternal strains. These findings suggested to extend the backcrossing breeding strategy beyond BC6 generation and increasing the introgression efficiency of critical regions that have ecological and epidemiological implications through the targeted selection of specific markers. Disregarding differential introgression efficiency, we concluded that the phenotype of the sex ratio distorter is stable in the BC6 introgressed An. coluzzii strains.     

Impact of a Dyadic Intervention on Family Supporter Involvement in Helping Adults Manage Type 2 Diabetes

BackgroundFamily support for adults’ diabetes care is associated with improved self-management and outcomes, but healthcare providers lack structured ways to engage those supporters.ObjectiveAssess the impact of a patient-supporter diabetes management intervention on supporters’ engagement in patients’ diabetes care, support techniques, and caregiving experience.DesignMultivariate regression models examined between-group differences in support-related measures observed as part of a larger trial randomizing participants to a dyadic intervention versus usual care.ParticipantsA total of 239 adults with type 2 diabetes and either A1c >8% or systolic blood pressure >160mmHg enrolled with a family supporter.InterventionHealth coaches provided training on positive support techniques and facilitated self-management information sharing and goal-setting.Main MeasuresPatient and supporter reports at baseline and 12 months of supporter roles in diabetes care and caregiving experience.ResultsAt 12 months, intervention-assigned patients had higher odds of reporting increased supporter involvement in remembering medical appointments (AOR 2.74, 95% CI 1.44, 5.21), performing home testing (AOR 2.40, 95% CI 1.29, 4.46), accessing online portals (AOR 2.34, 95% CI 1.29, 4.30), deciding when to contact healthcare providers (AOR 2.12, 95% CI 1.15, 3.91), and refilling medications (AOR 2.10, 95% CI 1.14, 3.89), but not with attending medical appointments or with healthy eating and exercise. Intervention-assigned patients reported increased supporter use of autonomy supportive communication (+0.27 points on a 7-point scale, p=0.02) and goal-setting techniques (+0.30 points on a 5-point scale, p=0.01). There were no differences at 12 months in change scores measuring supporter distress about patients’ diabetes or caregiving burden. Intervention-assigned supporters had significantly larger increases in satisfaction with health system support for their role (+0.88 points on a 10-point scale, p=0.01).ConclusionsA dyadic patient-supporter intervention led to increased family supporter involvement in diabetes self-management and increased use of positive support techniques, without increasing caregiver stress.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11606-021-06946-8.KEY WORDS: diabetes, social support, self-management, caregiving     

Association of cerebral small vessel disease burden with brain structure and cognitive and vascular risk trajectories in mid-to-late life

We characterize the associations of total cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) burden with brain structure, trajectories of vascular risk factors, and cognitive functions in mid-to-late life. Participants were 623 community-dwelling adults from the Whitehall II Imaging Sub-study with multi-modal MRI (mean age 69.96, SD = 5.18, 79% men). We used linear mixed-effects models to investigate associations of SVD burden with up to 25-year retrospective trajectories of vascular risk and cognitive performance. General linear modelling was used to investigate concurrent associations with grey matter (GM) density and white matter (WM) microstructure, and whether these associations were modified by cognitive status (Montreal Cognitive Asessment [MoCA] scores of < 26 vs. ≥ 26). Severe SVD burden in older age was associated with higher mean arterial pressure throughout midlife (β = 3.36, 95% CI [0.42-6.30]), and faster cognitive decline in letter fluency (β = −0.07, 95% CI [−0.13–−0.01]), and verbal reasoning (β = −0.05, 95% CI [−0.11–−0.001]). Moreover, SVD burden was related to lower GM volumes in 9.7% of total GM, and widespread WM microstructural decline (FWE-corrected p < 0.05). The latter association was most pronounced in individuals who demonstrated cognitive impairments on MoCA (MoCA < 26; F_3,608 = 2.14, p = 0.007). These findings highlight the importance of managing midlife vascular health to preserve brain structure and cognitive function in old age.     

Centres for Clinical Education (CCE): developing the health care education of tomorrow--a preliminary report

A new interdisciplinary concept of medical and health care education has been introduced at Karolinska Institute in collaboration with the County Council in Stockholm under the motto Learning together to be able to work together. Centres of Clinical Education are built up in four major hospitals to promote meeting places during clinical education for students from different categories. During a three-year project more than 5000 students from four educational programmes have been involved--medicine, nursing, occupational therapy and physiotherapy. The project started in 1998 and will turn into regular activities in 2002. The Centres consist of three parts. First is the Clinical Training Ward, a ward without patients where manual skills as well as skills in communication are taught, practised and videotaped. Second is the Clinical Education Ward, a student-driven ward where students during two-week periods experience their own professional roles in day-to-day work and learn how to work together. Third is the Multidisciplinary Team, where teachers from the four programmes plan and provide opportunities for students to learn together. Opportunities to meet and learn together have promoted a wider understanding of each professional in health care teams among students and staff. The Centres of Clinical Education provide excellent opportunities to bridge professional borders and to coordinate undergraduate studies and clinical reality.     

Breastfeeding attitudes among counselling health professionals

AIM: The aim of the study was to develop an instrument that can be used for accurate assessment of nurses' and midwives' attitudes toward breastfeeding in a group of midwives, maternity-nursing staff and postnatal nurses experienced in breastfeeding counselling. METHOD: An instrument based on WHO standards was developed to measure breastfeeding attitudes. In all, 168 healthcare professionals filled in the instrument. A factor analysis using maximum likelihood and varimax rotation was performed. Spearman's correlation was used to correlate factorial dimensions and self-described interest in breastfeeding. RESULTS: By means of factor analysis four factors were identified: the "regulating" factor focused on regulating the mothers' breastfeeding management, the "facilitating" factor focused on making it easy for mothers to manage their breastfeeding, the "disempowering" factor focused on giving advice, disregarding the needs of the mother being counselled, and the "breastfeeding antipathy" factor focused on insufficient, basic, breastfeeding knowledge and aversive reactions to breastfeeding. Midwives rated higher on the facilitating factor and breastfeeding antipathy factor and lower on the regulating factor than postnatal nurses. Breastfeeding interest was positively correlated with the facilitating factor, and negatively with the disempowering factor and the breastfeeding antipathy factor. CONCLUSION: This instrument provides a picture of health professionals' attitudes towards breastfeeding. Four factors were identified in order of importance: regulating, facilitating, disempowering, and breastfeeding antipathy factors. Harmful attitudes were identified and suggested a need for educational programmes to help health professionals to reconcile damaging values, in order to improve breastfeeding counselling.