Prevalence of victims of violence admitted to an emergency department.

OBJECTIVE: To collect data on the consultation frequency and demographic profile of victims of violence attending an emergency department (ED) in Switzerland. METHODS: We undertook screening of all admitted adult patients (>16 years) in the ED of the CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland, over a 1 month period, using a modified version of the Partner Violence Screen questionnaire. Exclusionary criteria were: life threatening injury (National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics score > or =4), or inability to understand or speak French, to give oral informed consent, or to be questioned without a family member or accompanying person being present. Data were collected on history of physical and/or psychological violence during the previous 12 months, the type of violence experienced by the patient, and if violence was the reason for the current consultation. Sociodemographic data were obtained from the registration documents. RESULTS: The final sample consisted of 1602 patients (participation rate of 77.2%), with a refusal rate of 1.1%. Violence during the past 12 months was reported by 11.4% of patients. Of the total sample, 25% stated that violence was the reason for the current consultation; of these, 95% of patients were confirmed as victims of violence by the ED physicians. Patients reporting violence were more likely to be young and separated from their partner. Men were more likely to be victims of public violence and women more commonly victims of domestic violence. CONCLUSIONS: Based on this monthly prevalence rate, we estimate that over 3000 adults affected by violence consult our ED per annum. This underlines the importance of the problem and the need to address it. Health services organisations should establish measures to improve quality of care for victims. Guidelines and educational programmes for nurses and physicians should be developed in order to enhance providers' skills and basic knowledge of all types of violence, how to recognise and interact appropriately with victims, and where to refer these patients for follow up care in their local networks.

Unconditioned responses and functional fear networks in human classical conditioning.

Human imaging studies examining fear conditioning have mainly focused on the neural responses to conditioned cues. In contrast, the neural basis of the unconditioned response and the mechanisms by which fear modulates inter-regional functional coupling have received limited attention. We examined the neural responses to an unconditioned stimulus using a partial-reinforcement fear conditioning paradigm and functional MRI. The analysis focused on: (1) the effects of an unconditioned stimulus (an electric shock) that was either expected and actually delivered, or expected but not delivered, and (2) on how related brain activity changed across conditioning trials, and (3) how shock expectation influenced inter-regional coupling within the fear network. We found that: (1) the delivery of the shock engaged the red nucleus, amygdale, dorsal striatum, insula, somatosensory and cingulate cortices, (2) when the shock was expected but not delivered, only the red nucleus, the anterior insular and dorsal anterior cingulate cortices showed activity increases that were sustained across trials, and (3) psycho-physiological interaction analysis demonstrated that fear led to increased red nucleus coupling to insula but decreased hippocampus coupling to the red nucleus, thalamus and cerebellum. The hippocampus and the anterior insula may serve as hubs facilitating the switch between engagement of a defensive immediate fear network and a resting network.

How central and connected am I in my family? Bridging and bonding social capital in family configurations of young adults with psychiatric disorders

AIMS: This article explores the structures of relational resources that individuals with psychiatric disorders get from their family configurations using the concept of social capital. METHODS: The research is based on a sample of 54 individuals with psychiatric disorders and behavioural problems, and a comparison sample of 54 individuals without a clinical record matched to the clinical respondents for age and sex. Standard measures of social capital from social network methods are applied on family configurations of individuals from both samples. Differences are tested by variance analysis. RESULTS: Structures of family resources available to individuals with psychiatric disorders are distinct. Individuals with psychiatric disorders perceive themselves as less central in their family configurations and less connected to their family members. Their significant family members are perceived as less connected with each other. As a whole, their family configurations are smaller and do not include spouses or partners. Therefore bridging and bonding social capitals are not readily available for them. CONCLUSION: As family configurations of individuals with psychiatric disorders provide fewer relational resources than other families, they are not able to deal with social integration of individuals with psychiatric disorders on their own.

. Phenotype/genotype correlation associated with a novel nonsense Glu20stop mutation in the Rp2 gene in a three-generation family with x-linked retinitis pigmentosa

Purpose: To assess the phenotype of patients in a large 3 generation Swiss family with X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (XLRP) due to a novel nonsense mutation Glu20stop in RP2 gene and to correlate with the genotype. Methods: 6 affected patients (1 male, 5 females, age range: 23 - 73 years) were assessed with a complete ophthalmologic examination. All had fundus autofluorescence images, standardised electroretinography, Goldmann visual fields and Optical Coherence Tomography. In addition, medical records of 2 affected male patients were reviewed. Blood sample was taken for molecular analysis. Results: The male patients were severely affected at a young age with early macular involvement. The youngest 23 y old male had also high myopia and vision of less than 0.05 according to Snellen EDTRS chart bilaterally. All 5 female carriers had some degree of rod-cone dystrophy, but no macular involvement. The visual acuity was 1.0 in the younger carriers, while the 73 years old had VA of 0.5. Two females had mild myopia (range -0.75 to -2) and one had anisometropia of 3.5D, with the more severely affected eye being myopic. Three out of 5 female carriers had optic nerve drusen. Conclusions: We report a novel Glu20stop mutation in RP2 gene, which is a rare cause of XLRP. Our description of severe phenotype in male patients with high myopia and early macular atrophy confirms previous reports. Unlike previous reports, all our female carriers had RP, but not macular involvement or high myopia. The identifiable phenotype for RP2-XLRP aids in clinical diagnosis and targeted genetic screening.

The AP-1 transcription factor c-Jun prevents stress-imposed maladaptive remodeling of the heart.

Systemic hypertension increases cardiac workload and subsequently induces signaling networks in heart that underlie myocyte growth (hypertrophic response) through expansion of sarcomeres with the aim to increase contractility. However, conditions of increased workload can induce both adaptive and maladaptive growth of heart muscle. Previous studies implicate two members of the AP-1 transcription factor family, junD and fra-1, in regulation of heart growth during hypertrophic response. In this study, we investigate the function of the AP-1 transcription factors, c-jun and c-fos, in heart growth. Using pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy in mice and targeted deletion of Jun or Fos in cardiomyocytes, we show that c-jun is required for adaptive cardiac hypertrophy, while c-fos is dispensable in this context. c-jun promotes expression of sarcomere proteins and suppresses expression of extracellular matrix proteins. Capacity of cardiac muscle to contract depends on organization of principal thick and thin filaments, myosin and actin, within the sarcomere. In line with decreased expression of sarcomere-associated proteins, Jun-deficient cardiomyocytes present disarrangement of filaments in sarcomeres and actin cytoskeleton disorganization. Moreover, Jun-deficient hearts subjected to pressure overload display pronounced fibrosis and increased myocyte apoptosis finally resulting in dilated cardiomyopathy. In conclusion, c-jun but not c-fos is required to induce a transcriptional program aimed at adapting heart growth upon increased workload.

Polar gradients of the DYRK-family kinase Pom1 couple cell length with the cell cycle.

Cells normally grow to a certain size before they enter mitosis and divide. Entry into mitosis depends on the activity of Cdk1, which is inhibited by the Wee1 kinase and activated by the Cdc25 phosphatase. However, how cells sense their size for mitotic commitment remains unknown. Here we show that an intracellular gradient of the dual-specificity tyrosine-phosphorylation regulated kinase (DYRK) Pom1, which emanates from the ends of rod-shaped Schizosaccharomyces pombe cells, serves to measure cell length and control mitotic entry. Pom1 provides positional information both for polarized growth and to inhibit cell division at cell ends. We discovered that Pom1 is also a dose-dependent G2-M inhibitor. Genetic analyses indicate that Pom1 negatively regulates Cdr1 and Cdr2, two previously described Wee1 inhibitors of the SAD kinase family. This inhibition may be direct, because in vivo and in vitro evidence suggest that Pom1 phosphorylates Cdr2. Whereas Cdr1 and Cdr2 localize to a medial cortical region, Pom1 forms concentration gradients from cell tips that overlap with Cdr1 and Cdr2 in short cells, but not in long cells. Disturbing these Pom1 gradients leads to Cdr2 phosphorylation and imposes a G2 delay. In short cells, Pom1 prevents precocious M-phase entry, suggesting that the higher medial Pom1 levels inhibit Cdr2 and promote a G2 delay. Thus, gradients of Pom1 from cell ends provide a measure of cell length to regulate M-phase entry.

Synchronous versus asynchronous modeling of gene regulatory networks.

MOTIVATION: In silico modeling of gene regulatory networks has gained some momentum recently due to increased interest in analyzing the dynamics of biological systems. This has been further facilitated by the increasing availability of experimental data on gene-gene, protein-protein and gene-protein interactions. The two dynamical properties that are often experimentally testable are perturbations and stable steady states. Although a lot of work has been done on the identification of steady states, not much work has been reported on in silico modeling of cellular differentiation processes. RESULTS: In this manuscript, we provide algorithms based on reduced ordered binary decision diagrams (ROBDDs) for Boolean modeling of gene regulatory networks. Algorithms for synchronous and asynchronous transition models have been proposed and their corresponding computational properties have been analyzed. These algorithms allow users to compute cyclic attractors of large networks that are currently not feasible using existing software. Hereby we provide a framework to analyze the effect of multiple gene perturbation protocols, and their effect on cell differentiation processes. These algorithms were validated on the T-helper model showing the correct steady state identification and Th1-Th2 cellular differentiation process. AVAILABILITY: The software binaries for Windows and Linux platforms can be downloaded from http://si2.epfl.ch/~garg/genysis.html.

Social Interaction Effects on Fertility: Intentions and Behaviors

The existing literature shows that social interactions in individuals' networks affect their reproductive attitudes and behaviors through three mechanisms: social influence, social learning, and social support. In this paper, we discuss to what extent the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), an individual based theorization of intentions and behavior used to model fertility, takes these social mechanisms into account. We argue that the TPB already integrates social influence and that it could easily accommodate the two other social network mechanisms. By doing so, the theory would be enriched in two respects. First, it will explain more completely how macro level changes eventually ends in micro level changes in behavioral intentions. Indeed, mechanisms of social influence may explain why changes in representations of parenthood and ideal family size can be slower than changes in socio-economic conditions and institutions. Social learning mechanisms should also be considered, since they are crucial to distinguish who adopts new behavioral beliefs and practices, when change at the macro level finally sinks in. Secondly, relationships are a capital of services that can complement institutional offering (informal child care) as well as a capital of knowledge which help individuals navigate in a complex institutional reality, providing a crucial element to explain heterogeneity in the successful realization of fertility intentions across individuals. We develop specific hypotheses concerning the effect of social interactions on fertility intentions and their realization to conclude with a critical review of the existing surveys suitable to test them and their limits.

Future trypanosomatid phylogenies: refined homologies, supertrees and networks

There has been good progress in inferring the evolutionary relationships within trypanosomes from DNA data as until relatively recently, many relationships have remained rather speculative. Ongoing molecular studies have provided data that have adequately shown Trypanosoma to be monophyletic and, rather surprisingly, that there are sharply contrasting levels of genetic variation within and between the major trypanosomatid groups. There are still, however, areas of research that could benefit from further development and resolution that broadly fall upon three questions. Are the current statements of evolutionary homology within ribosomal small sub-unit genes in need of refinement? Can the published phylograms be expanded upon to form `supertrees' depicting further relationships? Does a bifurcating tree structure impose an untenable dogma upon trypanosomatid phylogeny where hybridisation or reticulate evolutionary steps have played a part? This article briefly addresses these three questions and, in so doing, hopes to stimulate further interest in the molecular evolution of the group.

Residential Family Centres Standards

This document sets out the minimum standards which providers of Residential Family Centre services are expected to meet.

Structural Analysis of Networks

Network analysis naturally relies on graph theory and, more particularly, on the use of node and edge metrics to identify the salient properties in graphs. When building visual maps of networks, these metrics are turned into useful visual cues or are used interactively to filter out parts of a graph while querying it, for instance. Over the years, analysts from different application domains have designed metrics to serve specific needs. Network science is an inherently cross-disciplinary field, which leads to the publication of metrics with similar goals; different names and descriptions of their analytics often mask the similarity between two metrics that originated in different fields. Here, we study a set of graph metrics and compare their relative values and behaviors in an effort to survey their potential contributions to the spatial analysis of networks.