Depressive disorder moderates the effect of the FTO gene on body mass index.

There is evidence that obesity-related disorders are increased among people with depression. Variation in the FTO (fat mass and obesity associated) gene has been shown to contribute to common forms of human obesity. This study aimed to investigate the genetic influence of polymorphisms in FTO in relation to body mass index (BMI) in two independent samples of major depressive disorder (MDD) cases and controls. We analysed 88 polymorphisms in the FTO gene in a clinically ascertained sample of 2442 MDD cases and 809 controls (Radiant Study). In all, 8 of the top 10 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) showing the strongest associations with BMI were followed-up in a population-based cohort (PsyCoLaus Study) consisting of 1292 depression cases and 1690 controls. Linear regression analyses of the FTO variants and BMI yielded 10 SNPs significantly associated with increased BMI in the depressive group but not the control group in the Radiant sample. The same pattern was found in the PsyCoLaus sample. We found a significant interaction between genotype and affected status in relation to BMI for seven SNPs in Radiant (P<0.0057), with PsyCoLaus giving supportive evidence for five SNPs (P-values between 0.03 and 0.06), which increased in significance when the data were combined in a meta-analysis. This is the first study investigating FTO and BMI within the context of MDD, and the results indicate that having a history of depression moderates the effect of FTO on BMI. This finding suggests that FTO is involved in the mechanism underlying the association between mood disorders and obesity.

Reliure de : Andreae Vesalii,... Epistola [ad Joachimum Roelants], rationem modumque propinandi radicis Chynae decocti, quo nuper... Carolus V. imperator usus est, pertractans ; et praeter alia quaedam, epistolae cujusdam ad Jacobum Sylvium sententiam recensens, veritatis ac potissimum humanae fabricae studiosis perutilem ; quum qui hactenus in illa nimium Galeno creditum sit, facile commonstret. Accessit quoque locuples rerum et verborum in hac ipsa epistola memorabilium index... [A Francisco Vesalio, auctoris fratre, editum.]

Numérisation partielle de reliure

The generalized index of maximum and minimum level and its application in decision making

[spa] El índice del máximo y el mínimo nivel es una técnica muy útil, especialmente para toma de decisiones, que usa la distancia de Hamming y el coeficiente de adecuación en el mismo problema. En este trabajo, se propone una generalización a través de utilizar medias generalizadas y cuasi aritméticas. A estos operadores de agregación, se les denominará el índice del máximo y el mínimo nivel medio ponderado ordenado generalizado (GOWAIMAM) y cuasi aritmético (Quasi-OWAIMAM). Estos nuevos operadores generalizan una amplia gama de casos particulares como el índice del máximo y el mínimo nivel generalizado (GIMAM), el OWAIMAM, y otros. También se desarrolla una aplicación en la toma de decisiones sobre selección de productos.

Identifying the best body mass index metric to assess adiposity change in children.

OBJECTIVE: Although dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) is the preferred method to estimate adiposity, body mass index (BMI) is often used as a proxy. However, the ability of BMI to measure adiposity change among youth is poorly evidenced. This study explored which metrics of BMI change have the highest correlations with different metrics of DEXA change. METHODS: Data were from the Quebec Adipose and Lifestyle Investigation in Youth cohort, a prospective cohort of children (8-10 years at recruitment) from Québec, Canada (n=557). Height and weight were measured by trained nurses at baseline (2008) and follow-up (2010). Metrics of BMI change were raw (ΔBMIkg/m(2) ), adjusted for median BMI (ΔBMIpercentage) and age-sex-adjusted with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth curves expressed as centiles (ΔBMIcentile) or z-scores (ΔBMIz-score). Metrics of DEXA change were raw (total fat mass; ΔFMkg), per cent (ΔFMpercentage), height-adjusted (fat mass index; ΔFMI) and age-sex-adjusted z-scores (ΔFMz-score). Spearman's rank correlations were derived. RESULTS: Correlations ranged from modest (0.60) to strong (0.86). ΔFMkg correlated most highly with ΔBMIkg/m(2) (r = 0.86), ΔFMI with ΔBMIkg/m(2) and ΔBMIpercentage (r = 0.83-0.84), ΔFMz-score with ΔBMIz-score (r = 0.78), and ΔFMpercentage with ΔBMIpercentage (r = 0.68). Correlations with ΔBMIcentile were consistently among the lowest. CONCLUSIONS: In 8-10-year-old children, absolute or per cent change in BMI is a good proxy for change in fat mass or FMI, and BMI z-score change is a good proxy for FM z-score change. However change in BMI centile and change in per cent fat mass perform less well and are not recommended.

Brief DISCERN, six questions for the evaluation of evidence-based content of health-related websites.

OBJECTIVE: To extract and to validate a brief version of the DISCERN which could identify mental health-related websites with good content quality. METHOD: The present study is based on the analysis of data issued from six previous studies which used DISCERN and a standardized tool for the evaluation of content quality (evidence-based health information) of 388 mental health-related websites. After extracting the Brief DISCERN, several psychometric properties (content validity through a Factor analysis, internal consistency by the Cronbach's alpha index, predictive validity through the diagnostic tests, concurrent validity by the strength of association between the Brief DISCERN and the original DISCERN scores) were investigated to ascertain its general applicability. RESULTS: A Brief DISCERN composed of two factors and six items was extracted from the original 16 items version of the DISCERN. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were more than acceptable for the complete questionnaire (alpha=0.74) and for the two distinct domains: treatments information (alpha=0.87) and reliability (alpha=0.83). Sensibility and specificity of the Brief DISCERN cut-off score > or =16 in the detection of good content quality websites were 0.357 and 0.945, respectively. Its predictive positive and negative values were 0.98 and 0.83, respectively. A statistically significant linear correlation was found between the total scores of the Brief DISCERN and those of the original DISCERN (r=0.84 and p<0.0005). CONCLUSION: The Brief DISCERN seems to be a reliable and valid instrument able to discriminate between websites with good and poor content quality. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The Brief DISCERN is a simple tool which could facilitate the identification of good information on the web by patients and general consumers.

Redox index of soil carbon stability

As an alternative to the relatively complex and expensive spectroscopic methods, the redox properties of humic acids, determined by potentiometric titrations, have been used to evaluate the stability of soil organic C. The objective of the present study was to establish a Redox Index of C Stability (RICS) and to correlate it with some properties of the humic acids extracted from different modal soils in Brazil (distinct weathering stages or management) to facilitate system comparison. The RICS was efficient for soil comparison and variations were comparable to those of the chemical and spectroscopic methods used for humic acid characterization. The values of soil pH, point of zero salt effect, sum of bases, exchangeable Ca content, weathering index, as well as the humic acid O/C ratio, quinone and semiquinone free radical contents, aromatic C and fluorescence intensity were closely related with the RICS. The RICS was higher in less weathered soils, with more active clays and higher fertility. The RICS values of soils under long-term sugarcane management were ranked in decreasing order: unburned, burned with vinasse, burned without vinasse.

The pneumonia severity index: a decade after the initial derivation and validation

The prognosis of community-acquired pneumonia ranges from rapid resolution of symptoms and full recovery of functional status to the development of severe medical complications and death. The pneumonia severity index is a rigorously studied prediction rule for prognosis that objectively stratifies patients into quintiles of risk for short-term mortality on the basis of 20 demographic and clinical variables routinely available at presentation. The pneumonia severity index was derived and validated with data on >50,000 patients with community-acquired pneumonia by use of well-accepted methodological standards and is the only pneumonia decision aid that has been empirically shown to safely increase the proportion of patients given treatment in the outpatient setting. Because of its prognostic accuracy, methodological rigor, and effectiveness and safety as a decision aid, the pneumonia severity index has become the reference standard for risk stratification of community-acquired pneumonia

Site index curves for European aspen ( Populus tremula L.) growing on forest land of different soils in Sweden

Summary

Community Policing in Switzerland's Major Urban Areas: An Observational Study of the Implementation and Impact Using Geospatial Data Mining

La présente étude est à la fois une évaluation du processus de la mise en oeuvre et des impacts de la police de proximité dans les cinq plus grandes zones urbaines de Suisse - Bâle, Berne, Genève, Lausanne et Zurich. La police de proximité (community policing) est à la fois une philosophie et une stratégie organisationnelle qui favorise un partenariat renouvelé entre la police et les communautés locales dans le but de résoudre les problèmes relatifs à la sécurité et à l'ordre public. L'évaluation de processus a analysé des données relatives aux réformes internes de la police qui ont été obtenues par l'intermédiaire d'entretiens semi-structurés avec des administrateurs clés des cinq départements de police, ainsi que dans des documents écrits de la police et d'autres sources publiques. L'évaluation des impacts, quant à elle, s'est basée sur des variables contextuelles telles que des statistiques policières et des données de recensement, ainsi que sur des indicateurs d'impacts construit à partir des données du Swiss Crime Survey (SCS) relatives au sentiment d'insécurité, à la perception du désordre public et à la satisfaction de la population à l'égard de la police. Le SCS est un sondage régulier qui a permis d'interroger des habitants des cinq grandes zones urbaines à plusieurs reprises depuis le milieu des années 1980. L'évaluation de processus a abouti à un « Calendrier des activités » visant à créer des données de panel permettant de mesurer les progrès réalisés dans la mise en oeuvre de la police de proximité à l'aide d'une grille d'évaluation à six dimensions à des intervalles de cinq ans entre 1990 et 2010. L'évaluation des impacts, effectuée ex post facto, a utilisé un concept de recherche non-expérimental (observational design) dans le but d'analyser les impacts de différents modèles de police de proximité dans des zones comparables à travers les cinq villes étudiées. Les quartiers urbains, délimités par zone de code postal, ont ainsi été regroupés par l'intermédiaire d'une typologie réalisée à l'aide d'algorithmes d'apprentissage automatique (machine learning). Des algorithmes supervisés et non supervisés ont été utilisés sur les données à haute dimensionnalité relatives à la criminalité, à la structure socio-économique et démographique et au cadre bâti dans le but de regrouper les quartiers urbains les plus similaires dans des clusters. D'abord, les cartes auto-organisatrices (self-organizing maps) ont été utilisées dans le but de réduire la variance intra-cluster des variables contextuelles et de maximiser simultanément la variance inter-cluster des réponses au sondage. Ensuite, l'algorithme des forêts d'arbres décisionnels (random forests) a permis à la fois d'évaluer la pertinence de la typologie de quartier élaborée et de sélectionner les variables contextuelles clés afin de construire un modèle parcimonieux faisant un minimum d'erreurs de classification. Enfin, pour l'analyse des impacts, la méthode des appariements des coefficients de propension (propensity score matching) a été utilisée pour équilibrer les échantillons prétest-posttest en termes d'âge, de sexe et de niveau d'éducation des répondants au sein de chaque type de quartier ainsi identifié dans chacune des villes, avant d'effectuer un test statistique de la différence observée dans les indicateurs d'impacts. De plus, tous les résultats statistiquement significatifs ont été soumis à une analyse de sensibilité (sensitivity analysis) afin d'évaluer leur robustesse face à un biais potentiel dû à des covariables non observées. L'étude relève qu'au cours des quinze dernières années, les cinq services de police ont entamé des réformes majeures de leur organisation ainsi que de leurs stratégies opérationnelles et qu'ils ont noué des partenariats stratégiques afin de mettre en oeuvre la police de proximité. La typologie de quartier développée a abouti à une réduction de la variance intra-cluster des variables contextuelles et permet d'expliquer une partie significative de la variance inter-cluster des indicateurs d'impacts avant la mise en oeuvre du traitement. Ceci semble suggérer que les méthodes de géocomputation aident à équilibrer les covariables observées et donc à réduire les menaces relatives à la validité interne d'un concept de recherche non-expérimental. Enfin, l'analyse des impacts a révélé que le sentiment d'insécurité a diminué de manière significative pendant la période 2000-2005 dans les quartiers se trouvant à l'intérieur et autour des centres-villes de Berne et de Zurich. Ces améliorations sont assez robustes face à des biais dus à des covariables inobservées et covarient dans le temps et l'espace avec la mise en oeuvre de la police de proximité. L'hypothèse alternative envisageant que les diminutions observées dans le sentiment d'insécurité soient, partiellement, un résultat des interventions policières de proximité semble donc être aussi plausible que l'hypothèse nulle considérant l'absence absolue d'effet. Ceci, même si le concept de recherche non-expérimental mis en oeuvre ne peut pas complètement exclure la sélection et la régression à la moyenne comme explications alternatives. The current research project is both a process and impact evaluation of community policing in Switzerland's five major urban areas - Basel, Bern, Geneva, Lausanne, and Zurich. Community policing is both a philosophy and an organizational strategy that promotes a renewed partnership between the police and the community to solve problems of crime and disorder. The process evaluation data on police internal reforms were obtained through semi-structured interviews with key administrators from the five police departments as well as from police internal documents and additional public sources. The impact evaluation uses official crime records and census statistics as contextual variables as well as Swiss Crime Survey (SCS) data on fear of crime, perceptions of disorder, and public attitudes towards the police as outcome measures. The SCS is a standing survey instrument that has polled residents of the five urban areas repeatedly since the mid-1980s. The process evaluation produced a "Calendar of Action" to create panel data to measure community policing implementation progress over six evaluative dimensions in intervals of five years between 1990 and 2010. The impact evaluation, carried out ex post facto, uses an observational design that analyzes the impact of the different community policing models between matched comparison areas across the five cities. Using ZIP code districts as proxies for urban neighborhoods, geospatial data mining algorithms serve to develop a neighborhood typology in order to match the comparison areas. To this end, both unsupervised and supervised algorithms are used to analyze high-dimensional data on crime, the socio-economic and demographic structure, and the built environment in order to classify urban neighborhoods into clusters of similar type. In a first step, self-organizing maps serve as tools to develop a clustering algorithm that reduces the within-cluster variance in the contextual variables and simultaneously maximizes the between-cluster variance in survey responses. The random forests algorithm then serves to assess the appropriateness of the resulting neighborhood typology and to select the key contextual variables in order to build a parsimonious model that makes a minimum of classification errors. Finally, for the impact analysis, propensity score matching methods are used to match the survey respondents of the pretest and posttest samples on age, gender, and their level of education for each neighborhood type identified within each city, before conducting a statistical test of the observed difference in the outcome measures. Moreover, all significant results were subjected to a sensitivity analysis to assess the robustness of these findings in the face of potential bias due to some unobserved covariates. The study finds that over the last fifteen years, all five police departments have undertaken major reforms of their internal organization and operating strategies and forged strategic partnerships in order to implement community policing. The resulting neighborhood typology reduced the within-cluster variance of the contextual variables and accounted for a significant share of the between-cluster variance in the outcome measures prior to treatment, suggesting that geocomputational methods help to balance the observed covariates and hence to reduce threats to the internal validity of an observational design. Finally, the impact analysis revealed that fear of crime dropped significantly over the 2000-2005 period in the neighborhoods in and around the urban centers of Bern and Zurich. These improvements are fairly robust in the face of bias due to some unobserved covariate and covary temporally and spatially with the implementation of community policing. The alternative hypothesis that the observed reductions in fear of crime were at least in part a result of community policing interventions thus appears at least as plausible as the null hypothesis of absolutely no effect, even if the observational design cannot completely rule out selection and regression to the mean as alternative explanations.

Soil water retention and s index after crop rotation and chiseling

Soil compaction can be minimized either mechanically or biologically, using plant species with vigorous root systems. An experiment was carried out with soybean (Glycine max) in rotation with triticale (X Triticosecale) and sunflower (Helianthus annuus) in fall-winter associated with pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) or sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea) in spring. Crop rotation under no-till was compared with mechanical chiseling. The experiment was carried out in Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil. Soil quality was estimated using the S index and soil water retention curves (in the layers of 0-0.05, 0.075-0.125, 0.15-0.20, 0.275-0.325, and 0.475-0.525 m deep). Crop rotation and chiseling improved soil quality, increasing the S index to over 0.035 to a depth of 20 cm in the soil profile. The improved soil quality, as shown by the S index, makes the use of mechanical chiseling unnecessary, since after 3 years the soil physical quality under no-tilled crop rotation and chiseling was similar.

The nitrogen sufficiency index underlying estimates of nitrogen fertilization requirements of common bean

Chlorophyll determination with a portable chlorophyll meter can indicate the period of highest N demand of plants and whether sidedressing is required or not. In this sense, defining the optimal timing of N application to common bean is fundamental to increase N use efficiency, increase yields and reduce the cost of fertilization. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the efficiency of N sufficiency index (NSI) calculated based on the relative chlorophyll index (RCI) in leaves, measured with a portable chlorophyll meter, as an indicator of time of N sidedressing fertilization and to verify which NSI (90 and 95 %) value is the most appropriate to indicate the moment of N fertilization of common bean cultivar Perola. The experiment was carried out in the rainy and dry growing seasons of the agricultural year 2009/10 on a dystroferric Red Nitosol, in Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil. The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design with five treatments, consisting of N managements (M1: 200 kg ha-1 N (40 kg at sowing + 80 kg 15 days after emergence (DAE) + 80 kg 30 DAE); M2: 100 kg ha-1 N (20 kg at sowing + 40 kg 15 DAE + 40 kg 30 DAE); M3: 20 kg ha-1 N at sowing + 30 kg ha-1 when chlorophyll meter readings indicated NSI < 95 %; M4: 20 kg ha-1 N at sowing + 30 kg ha-1 N when chlorophyll meter readings indicated NSI < 90 % and, M5: control (without N application)) and four replications. The variables RCI, aboveground dry matter, total leaf N concentration, production components, grain yield, relative yield, and N use efficiency were evaluated. The RCI correlated with leaf N concentrations. By monitoring the RCI with the chlorophyll meter, the period of N sidedressing of common bean could be defined, improving N use efficiency and avoiding unnecessary N supply to common bean. The NSI 90 % of the reference area was more efficient to define the moment of N sidedressing of common bean, to increase N use efficiency.

Multivariate analysis and geostatistics of the fertility of a humic rhodic hapludox under coffee cultivation

The spatial variability of soil and plant properties exerts great influence on the yeld of agricultural crops. This study analyzed the spatial variability of the fertility of a Humic Rhodic Hapludox with Arabic coffee, using principal component analysis, cluster analysis and geostatistics in combination. The experiment was carried out in an area under Coffea arabica L., variety Catucai 20/15 - 479. The soil was sampled at a depth 0.20 m, at 50 points of a sampling grid. The following chemical properties were determined: P, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, S, Al3+, pH, H + Al, SB, t, T, V, m, OM, Na saturation index (SSI), remaining phosphorus (P-rem), and micronutrients (Zn, Fe, Mn, Cu and B). The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, followed by principal component and cluster analyses. Geostatistics were used to check and quantify the degree of spatial dependence of properties, represented by principal components. The principal component analysis allowed a dimensional reduction of the problem, providing interpretable components, with little information loss. Despite the characteristic information loss of principal component analysis, the combination of this technique with geostatistical analysis was efficient for the quantification and determination of the structure of spatial dependence of soil fertility. In general, the availability of soil mineral nutrients was low and the levels of acidity and exchangeable Al were high.

Proposal for an index to classify irrigation water quality: a case study in northeastern Brazil

One way of classifying water quality is by means of indices, in which a series of parameters analyzed are joined a single value, facilitating the interpretation of extensive lists of variables or indicators, underlying the classification of water quality. The objective of this study was to develop a statistically based index to classify water according to the Irrigation Water Quality Index (IWQI), to evaluate the ionic composition of water for use in irrigation and classify it by its source. For this purpose, the database generated during the Technology Generation and Adaptation (GAT) program was used, in which, as of 1988, water samples were collected monthly from water sources in the states of Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará. To evaluate water quality, the electrical conductivity (EC) of irrigation water was taken as a reference, with values corresponding to 0.7 dS m-1. The chemical variables used in this study were: pH, EC, Ca, Mg, Na, K, Cl, HCO3, CO3, and SO4. The data of all characteristics evaluated were standardized and data normality was confirmed by Lilliefors test. Then the irrigation water quality index was determined by an equation that relates the standardized value of the variable with the number of characteristics evaluated. Thus, the IWQI was classified based on indices, considering normal distribution. Finally, these indices were subjected to regression analysis. The method proposed for the IWQI allowed a satisfactory classification of the irrigation water quality, being able to estimate it as a function of EC for the three water sources. Variation in the ionic composition was observed among the three sources and within a single source. Although the water quality differed, it was good in most cases, with the classification IWQI II.