Novel approach to an early assessment of a patient’s potential for neurological remission after acute spinal cord injury: Analysis of hemoglobin concentration dynamics

Context/objective: Examining hemoglobin (Hb) dynamics with regard to the potential of neurological remission in patients with traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI).Design: Prospective Clinical Observational Study.Setting: BG Trauma Centre Ludwigshafen, Department of Paraplegiology, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.Methods: From 2011 to 2017 a total of 80 patients with acute spinal injury were enrolled and divided into three groups: initial neurological impairment either with (G1; n = 33) or without subsequent neurological remission (G0; n = 35) and vertebral fractures without initial neurological impairment as control group (C; n = 12). Blood samples were taken for 3 months at 11 time-points after injury. Analyses were performed using routine diagnostics.Outcome measures: Multiple logistic regression was used to determine the prognostic value of Hb regarding neurological remission respecting clinical covariates.Results: Data showed elevated mean Hb concentrations in G1 from the third day to 1 month compared to G0, Hb levels were significantly higher in G1 after 3 days (P = 0.03, G1 > G0). The final multiple logistic regression model based on this data predicting the presence of neurological remission resulted in an AUC (area under the curve) of 80.5% (CI: 67.8%–93.2%) in the ROC (receiver operating characteristic) analysis.Conclusion: Elevated Hb concentrations are associated with a higher likelihood of neurological remission. Elevated concentrations of Hb in G1 compared to G0 over time might be linked to both a better initial oxygen supply response and a decreased ECM (extracellular matrix) degradation highlighting the role of Hb as a valuable biomarker for neural regeneration after TSCI.     

Sex Differences in Voyeuristic and Exhibitionistic Interests: Exploring the Mediating Roles of Sociosexuality and Sexual Compulsivity from an Evolutionary Perspective

Sociosexuality and sexual compulsivity predict sex differences in voyeuristic interest in the population. In this study, we used a sample of 1113 participants from the UK (46% men) to consider whether sociosexuality and sexual compulsivity interacted to explain these sex differences and whether this relationship extended to the related domain of exhibitionism. In doing so, we tested novel predictions derived from an evolutionary perspective which views voyeuristic and exhibitionistic interest as manifestations of a short-term mating strategy. Participants reported their levels of repulsion toward voyeurism and exhibitionism and their interest in performing such acts under different levels of risk. There were clear sex differences in voyeuristic and exhibitionistic repulsion that were partially mediated by the serial combination of sociosexuality and sexual compulsivity. Examining the sexes separately revealed qualitatively different relationships between sociosexuality and sexual compulsivity when predicting exhibitionistic, but not voyeuristic, repulsion. Combined, sociosexuality and sexual compulsivity also mediated the sex difference in willingness to commit acts of voyeurism, but not exhibitionism, which was equally low for both sexes. The results highlight the role sociosexuality plays in voyeuristic and exhibitionistic interest, which coupled with an evolutionary perspective, may have implications for how we view courtship disorders.

     

Why an alternative to suicide prevention gatekeeper training is needed for rural Indigenous communities: presenting an empowering community storytelling approach

The need for effective youth suicide prevention is uncontested, and is particularly urgent for Indigenous populations. The Indigenous youth suicide rates in some North American communities can be 18 times greater than for other young people. Despite the clear need, evidence in support of Indigenous youth suicide prevention strategies remain mixed. The most common approach to youth suicide prevention – gatekeeper training – may have limited effects in Indigenous communities. Based on recent work undertaken with Indigenous leaders in rural Alaska, we describe culturally grounded, practical alternatives that may be more effective for Indigenous communities. We highlight the ways in which research informed, grassroots interventions can address cultural, practical and systemic issues that are relevant when addressing risks for suicide on a community level. Built on a transactional-ecological framework that gives consideration to local contexts, culture-centric narratives and the multiple, interacting conditions of suicide, the innovative approach described here emphasizes community and cultural protective factors in Indigenous communities, and extends typical suicide prevention initiatives in ways that have important implications for other ethnically diverse communities.     

Evaluation of a novel strain of infectious bronchitis virus emerged as a result of spike gene recombination between two highly diverged parent strains

The emergence of new variant strains of the poultry pathogen infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is continually reported worldwide, owing to the labile nature of the large single-stranded RNA IBV genome. High resolution melt curve analysis previously detected a variant strain, N1/08, and the present study confirmed that this strain had emerged as a result of recombination between Australian subgroup 2 and 3 strains in the spike gene region, in a similar manner reported for turkey coronaviruses. The S1 gene for N1/08 had highest nucleotide similarity with subgroup 2 strains, which is interesting considering subgroup 2 strains have not been detected since the early 1990s. SimPlot analysis of the 7.2-kb 3′ end of the N1/08 genome with the same region for other Australian reference strains identified the sites of recombination as immediately upstream and downstream of the S1 gene. A pathogenicity study in 2-week-old chickens found that N1/08 had similar pathogenicity for chicken respiratory tissues to that reported for subgroup 2 strains rather than subgroup 3 strains. The results of this study demonstrate that recombination is a mechanism utilized for the emergence of new strains of IBV, with the ability to alter strain pathogenicity in a single generation.     

Free Zinc as a Predictive Marker for COVID-19 Mortality Risk

Free zinc is considered to be the exchangeable and biological active form of zinc in serum, and is discussed to be a suitable biomarker for alterations in body zinc homeostasis and related diseases. Given that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is characterized by a marked decrease in total serum zinc, and clinical data indicate that zinc status impacts the susceptibility and severity of the infection, we hypothesized that free zinc in serum might be altered in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and may reflect disease severity. To test this hypothesis, free zinc concentrations in serum samples of survivors and nonsurvivors of COVID-19 were analyzed by fluorometric microassay. Similar to the reported total serum zinc deficit measured by total reflection X-ray fluorescence, free serum zinc in COVID-19 patients was considerably lower than that in control subjects, and surviving patients displayed significantly higher levels of free zinc than those of nonsurvivors (mean ± SD; 0.4 ± 0.2 nM vs. 0.2 ± 0.1 nM; p = 0.0004). In contrast to recovering total zinc concentrations (r = 0.706, p < 0.001) or the declining copper–zinc ratio (r = −0.646; p < 0.001), free zinc concentrations remained unaltered with time in COVID-19 nonsurvivors. Free serum zinc concentrations were particularly low in male as compared to female patients (mean ± SD; 0.4 ± 0.2 nM vs. 0.2 ± 0.1 nM; p = 0.0003). This is of particular interest, as the male sex is described as a risk factor for severe COVID-19. Overall, results indicate that depressed free serum zinc levels are associated with increased risk of death in COVID-19, suggesting that free zinc may serve as a novel prognostic marker for the severity and course of COVID-19.