Examining Equivalence of Concepts and Measures in Diverse Samples

While there is growing awareness for the need to examine the etiology of problem behaviors across cultural, racial, socioeconomic, and gender groups, much research tends to assume that constructs are equivalent and that the measures developed within one group equally assess constructs across groups. The meaning of constructs, however, may differ across groups or, if similar in meaning, measures developed for a given construct in one particular group may not be assessing the same construct or may not be assessing the construct in the same manner in other groups. The aims of this paper were to demonstrate a process of testing several forms of equivalence including conceptual, functional, item, and scalar using different methods. Data were from the Cross-Cultural Families Project, a study examining factors that promote the healthy development and adjustment of children among immigrant Cambodian and Vietnamese families. The process described in this paper can be implemented in other prevention studies interested in diverse groups. Demonstrating equivalence of constructs and measures prior to group comparisons is necessary in order to lend support of our interpretation of issues such as ethnic group differences and similarities.     

Bovine NK cells can produce gamma interferon in response to the secreted mycobacterial proteins ESAT-6 and MPP14 but not in response to MPB70

Bovine NK cells have recently been characterized and the present study describes the interaction between NK cells, antigen-presenting cells, and secreted mycobacterial proteins. Gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) production by NK cells was seen in approximately 30% of noninfected calves in response to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex-specific protein ESAT-6, MPP14 from Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, and purified protein derivative (PPD) from M. tuberculosis. In contrast, no response was induced by MPB70, which is another M. tuberculosis complex-specific secreted antigen. The production of IFN-gamma by NK cells in whole blood in response to ESAT-6 and MPP14 was demonstrated using intracellular staining together with surface labeling for the NK cell-specific receptor, NKp46, or CD3. Furthermore, the depletion of NK cells from peripheral blood mononuclear cells completely abolished the IFN-gamma production. The response was mediated through stimulation of adherent cells and was largely independent of contact between adherent cells and the NK cells. Neutralization of interleukin-12 only partly inhibited IFN-gamma production, showing that other cytokines were also involved. The demonstration of NK cell-mediated IFN-gamma production in young cattle provides an explanation for the nonspecific IFN-gamma response frequently encountered in young cattle when using the IFN-gamma test in diagnosis of mycobacterial infections.     

Distinct immunological signatures discriminate severe COVID-19 from non-SARS-CoV-2-driven critical pneumonia

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Building a Methodological Foundation for Impactful Urban Planetary Health Science

Anthropogenic environmental change will heavily impact cities, yet associated health risks will depend significantly on decisions made by urban leaders across a wide range of non-health sectors, including transport, energy, housing, basic urban services, and others. A subset of planetary health researchers focus on understanding the urban health impacts of global environmental change, and how these vary globally and within cities. Such researchers increasingly adopt collaborative transdisciplinary approaches to engage policy-makers, private citizens, and other actors in identifying and evaluating potential policy solutions that will reduce environmental impacts in ways that simultaneously promote health, equity, and/or local economies—in other words, maximising ‘co-benefits’. This report presents observations from a participatory workshop focused on challenges and opportunities for urban planetary health research. The workshop, held at the 16th International Conference on Urban Health (ICUH) in Xiamen, China, in November 2019, brought together 49 participants and covered topics related to collaboration, data, and research impact. It featured research projects funded by the Wellcome Trust’s Our Planet Our Health (OPOH) programme. This report aims to concisely summarise and disseminate participants’ collective contributions to current methodological practice in urban planetary health research.     

The effects of bright light treatment on subjective and objective sleepiness during three consecutive night shifts among hospital nurses – a counter-balanced placebo-controlled crossover study

Objectives:The objective was to investigate effects of timed bright light treatment on subjective and objective measures of sleepiness during three consecutive night shifts among hospital nurses.Methods:Thirty-five nurses were exposed to bright light (10,000 lux) and red dim light (100 lux) during three consecutive night shifts in a counter-balanced crossover trial lasting nine days, which included three days before and three days after the three night shifts. Light exposure for 30 minutes was scheduled between 02:00–03:00 hours on night 1, and thereafter delayed by one hour per night in order to delay the circadian rhythm. Subjective sleepiness was measured daily (heavy eyelids, reduced performance) and every second hour while awake (Karolinska Sleepiness Scale, KSS). Objective sleepiness (Psychomotor Vigilance Task, PVT) was measured at 05:00 hours during each night shift. Beyond nocturnal light exposure on the night shifts, no behavioral restrictions or recommendations were given at or off work.Results:Bright light treatment significantly reduced heavy eyelids during night shifts. However, results on KSS and PVT were unaffected by bright light. There were no differences in subjective sleepiness during the three days following the night shifts.Conclusions:This bright light treatment protocol did not convincingly reduce sleepiness among nurses during three consecutive night shifts. Nor did bright light impede the readaptation back to a day-oriented rhythm following the night shift period. Too few consecutive night shifts, inappropriate timing of light, and possible use of other countermeasures are among the explanations for the limited effects of bright light in the present study.     

Validity and metric of MiniMental Parkinson and MiniMental State Examination in Parkinson’s disease

The MiniMental Parkinson (MMP) has been derived from the MiniMental State Examination (MMSE) for the screening of cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease by adding subtests that were focused on executive and visuo-spatial impairment more than on memory or language deficits. In this multicenter study, the psychometric and validity properties of the MMP have been evaluated in 69 cognitively intact and 52 cognitively impaired patients with Parkinson’s disease, classified according to their performance at the Dementia Rating Scale. The MMP showed better metrics and convergent validity, and higher screening ability. However, its performance was not fully satisfying in terms of data distribution, coefficient of variation and specificity, and Receiver Operating Characteristic curves did not show clear cut superiority of either scale at their best sensitivity–specificity trade off. The MMP seems to be slightly preferable to the MMSE only at a cut off that favours sensitivity with respect to specificity, for screening purposes. The test is simple and quick, but has limitations in terms of validity.     

Efficacy of acitretin in the treatment of reactive neutrophilic dermatoses in adult-onset immunodeficiency due to interferon-gamma autoantibody

Reactive neutrophilic dermatoses in adult-onset immunodeficiency due to interferon-γ autoantibody (AOID) are usually associated with concomitant active opportunistic infections. Data focusing on the treatment of these dermatoses with non-immunosuppressive drugs are still lacking. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of acitretin treatment of reactive neutrophilic dermatoses in AOID. We conducted a retrospective review of all patients with AOID who had reactive neutrophilic dermatoses and had been treated with acitretin from January 2008 to December 2018. In total, 23 patients had been diagnosed with AOID, with 27 episodes of reactive neutrophilic dermatoses (20 episodes of Sweet syndrome and seven episodes of generalized pustular eruption) and treated with acitretin. The median effective dose of acitretin was 10 mg/day. The mean initial response was 5.6 ± 2.3 days. The rash had almost or completely cleared within 2 weeks in 70.4% of patients. One case had developed a reversible acitretin-induced liver injury with hepatocellular pattern. The median total duration of treatment was 3 months. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the potential role of acitretin as one of the treatments of choice for reactive neutrophilic dermatoses in AOID, attributable to its favorable response and good tolerability.