Background
Physical activity is increasingly recognized as an important modifiable factor for depression. However, the extent to which individuals with stable risk factors for depression, such as ...high genetic vulnerability, can benefit from the protective effects of physical activity, remains unknown. Using a longitudinal biobank cohort integrating genomic data from 7,968 individuals of European ancestry with high‐dimensional electronic health records and lifestyle survey responses, we examined whether physical activity was prospectively associated with reduced risk for incident depression in the context of genetic vulnerability.
Methods
We identified individuals with incident episodes of depression, based on two or more diagnostic billing codes for a depressive disorder within 2 years following their lifestyle survey, and no such codes in the year prior. Polygenic risk scores were derived based on large‐scale genome‐wide association results for major depression. We tested main effects of physical activity and polygenic risk scores on incident depression, and effects of physical activity within stratified groups of polygenic risk.
Results
Polygenic risk was associated with increased odds of incident depression, and physical activity showed a protective effect of similar but opposite magnitude, even after adjusting for BMI, employment status, educational attainment, and prior depression. Higher levels of physical activity were associated with reduced odds of incident depression across all levels of genetic vulnerability, even among individuals at highest polygenic risk.
Conclusions
Real‐world data from a large healthcare system suggest that individuals with high genetic vulnerability are more likely to avoid incident episodes of depression if they are physically active.
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective depression treatment, but it has potential cognitive side effects. Ultrabrief pulse (UBP) right unilateral (RUL) ECT is an increasingly used treatment ...option that can potentially combine efficacy with lesser cognitive side effects. However, current trials are underpowered or have conflicting results. A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the relative efficacy and cognitive effects of brief pulse (BP) and UBP RUL ECT.
MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CENTRAL, DARE, and the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform were searched with the search terms ECT, electroconvulsive therapy, electroconvulsive shock, electroconvulsive shock therapy, electrical stimulation, electroconvulsive combined with brief, ultra*, pulse, and trial in English, all fields including title, abstract, subject heading, and full text up to June 20, 2013, for studies comparing BP and UBP RUL ECT in depressed patients that reported formalized mood ratings for depression.
Six studies met the inclusion criteria, comprising a total of 689 patients.
Efficacy, cognitive, response, and remission outcomes were extracted from each publication or obtained directly from authors.
BP RUL ECT was significantly more efficacious in treating depression than UBP RUL ECT (standardized mean difference = 0.25; 95% CI, 0.08–0.41; P = .004) but showed significantly more cognitive side effects in all cognitive domains examined (global cognition, anterograde learning and recall, retrograde memory) (P < .01). The mean number of treatment sessions given was 8.7 for BP ECT and 9.6 for UBP ECT (P < .001). UBP had a lower remission rate (OR = 0.71; 95% CI, 0.51–0.99; P = .045), with a number needed to treat of 12.1.
BP compared with UBP RUL ECT was slightly more efficacious in treating depression and required fewer treatment sessions, but led to greater cognitive side effects. The decision of whether to use BP or UBP RUL ECT should be made on an individual patient basis and should be based on a careful weighing of the relative priorities of efficacy versus minimization of cognitive impairment.
Background
Early‐onset depression during childhood and adolescence is associated with a worse course of illness and outcome than adult onset. However, the genetic factors that influence risk for ...early‐onset depression remain mostly unknown. Using data collected over 13 years, we examined whether polygenic risk scores (PRS) that capture genetic risk for depression were associated with depressive symptom trajectories assessed from childhood to adolescence.
Methods
Data came from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a prospective, longitudinal birth cohort (analytic sample = 7,308 youth). We analyzed the relationship between genetic susceptibility to depression and three time‐dependent measures of depressive symptoms trajectories spanning 4–16.5 years of age (class, onset, and cumulative burden). Trajectories were constructed using a growth mixture model with structured residuals. PRS were generated from the summary statistics of a genome‐wide association study of depression risk using data from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, UK Biobank, and 23andMe, Inc. We used MAGMA to identify gene‐level associations with these measures.
Results
Youth were classified into six classes of depressive symptom trajectories: high/renitent (27.9% of youth), high/reversing (9.1%), childhood decrease (7.3%), late childhood peak (3.3%), adolescent spike (2.5%), and minimal symptoms (49.9%). PRS discriminated between youth in the late childhood peak, high/reversing, and high/renitent classes compared to the minimal symptoms and childhood decrease classes. No significant associations were detected at the gene level.
Conclusions
This study highlights differences in polygenic loading for depressive symptoms across childhood and adolescence, particularly among youths with high symptoms in early adolescence, regardless of age‐independent patterns.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) deployment has risen rapidly in recent years. They are now used in a wide range of applications, from critical safety-of-life scenarios like nuclear power plant ...surveillance to entertainment and hobby applications. While the popularity of drones has grown lately, the associated intentional and unintentional security threats require adequate consideration. Thus, there is an urgent need for real-time accurate detection and classification of drones. This article provides an overview of drone detection approaches, highlighting their benefits and limitations. We analyze detection techniques that employ radars, acoustic and optical sensors, and emitted radio frequency (RF) signals. We compare their performance, accuracy, and cost under different operating conditions. We conclude that multi-sensor detection systems offer more compelling results, but further research is required.
Printing techniques could offer a scalable approach to fabricate thermoelectric (TE) devices on flexible substrates for power generation used in wearable devices and personalized thermo-regulation. ...However, typical printing processes need a large concentration of binder additives, which often render a detrimental effect on electrical transport of the printed TE layers. Here, we report scalable screen-printing of TE layers on flexible fiber glass fabrics, by rationally optimizing the printing inks consisting of TE particles (p-type Bi
Sb
Te
or n-type Bi
Te
Se
), binders, and organic solvents. We identified a suitable binder additive, methyl cellulose, which offers suitable viscosity for printability at a very small concentration (0.45-0.60 wt.%), thus minimizing its negative impact on electrical transport. Following printing, the binders were subsequently burnt off via sintering and hot pressing. We found that the nanoscale defects left behind after the binder burnt off became effective phonon scattering centers, leading to low lattice thermal conductivity in the printed n-type material. With the high electrical conductivity and low thermal conductivity, the screen-printed TE layers showed high room-temperature ZT values of 0.65 and 0.81 for p-type and n-type, respectively.
Depression is a major public health problem among working-age adults. The workplace is potentially an important location for interventions aimed at preventing the development of depression, but to ...date, the mental health impact of universal interventions in the workplace has been unclear.
A systematic search was conducted in relevant databases to identify randomized controlled trials of workplace interventions aimed at universal prevention of depression. The quality of studies was assessed using the Downs and Black checklist. A meta-analysis was performed using results from studies of adequate methodological quality, with pooled effect size estimates obtained from a random effects model.
Nine workplace-based randomized controlled trials (RCT) were identified. The majority of the included studies utilized cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques. The overall standardized mean difference (SMD) between the intervention and control groups was 0.16 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.07, 0.24, P = 0.0002), indicating a small positive effect. A separate analysis using only CBT-based interventions yielded a SMD of 0.12 (95% CI: -0.01, 0.24, P = 0.07). corrected.
There is good quality evidence that universally delivered workplace mental health interventions can reduce the level of depression symptoms among workers. There is more evidence for the effectiveness of CBT-based programs than other interventions. Evidence-based workplace interventions should be a key component of efforts to prevent the development of depression among adults.
The paper analyzes the healthcare-seeking behavior of South Korean immigrants in Toronto, Canada, and how transnationalism shapes post-migration health and health-management strategies. Built upon ...largely separate research areas in ethnicity and health, health geography, and transnationalism, the paper conceptualizes immigrant health as influenced by individual characteristics, the migration and resettlement experience, and place effects at both a local and a transnational scale. A mixed-method approach is used to capture insights into health status and experiences in accessing local and transnational healthcare among South Korean immigrants – a fast growing visible minority group in Canada. Statistical analysis of data from the Canadian Community Health Survey discloses patterns and trends in health and healthcare use among the Korean Canadian, overall foreign-born, and native-born populations. Focus groups reveal in-depth information on the decline of Korean immigrants' health status and the array of sociocultural, economic and geographic barriers in accessing healthcare in Canada, which gave rise to their transnational use of health resources in the home country. The transnational strategies included traveling to South Korea for medical examinations or treatment, importing medications from South Korea to Canada, and consulting health resources in South Korea by phone or email. The results provide timely knowledge on how a recent immigrant group adapts to Canada in the domain of health and adds a transnational perspective to the literature on ethnicity and health.
•Study examines transnational healthcare seeking behavior of Korean immigrants.•Mixed-methods include focus groups and analysis of Canadian Community Health Survey.•Care seeking in home country emerges as an important health coping strategy.•Transnational care use is a response to local barriers to healthcare•Local and global place effects and individual experiences shape access to care.
Organometal perovskite single crystals have been recognized as a promising platform for high‐performance optoelectronic devices, featuring high crystallinity and stability. However, a high trap ...density and structural nonuniformity at the surface have been major barriers to the progress of single crystal‐based optoelectronic devices. Here, the formation of a unique nanoisland structure is reported at the surface of the facet‐controlled cuboid MAPbI3 (MA = CH3NH3+) single crystals through a cation interdiffusion process enabled by energetically vaporized CsI. The interdiffusion of mobile ions between the bulk and the surface is triggered by thermally activated CsI vapor, which reconstructs the surface that is rich in MA and CsI with reduced dangling bonds. Simultaneously, an array of Cs‐Pb‐rich nanoislands is constructed on the surface of the MAPbI3 single crystals. This newly reconstructed nanoisland surface enhances the light absorbance over 50% and increases the charge carrier mobility from 56 to 93 cm2 V−1 s−1. As confirmed by Kelvin probe force microscopy, the nanoislands form a gradient band bending that prevents recombination of excess carriers, and thus, enhances lateral carrier transport properties. This unique engineering of the single crystal surface provides a pathway towards developing high‐quality perovskite single‐crystal surface for optoelectronic applications.
To restructure nonuniform CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite crystal surfaces, an effective surface engineering strategy is successfully demonstrated. By thermally evaporating energetic CsI on single‐crystal surfaces, a unique nanoisland structure is formed through a cation interdiffusion process. This morphology induces a gradient band bending, which increases the charge carrier mobility from 56 to 93 cm2 V−1 s−1.
Ion enhanced polarizationHafnium oxide is an exciting material because it has ferroelectric behavior that makes it attractive for various device applications. Kang et al. found that the ferroelectric ...properties improve by bombarding films of hafnium oxide with a beam of helium ions. The ion bombardment creates oxygen vacancies and strain changes from helium implantation that push more of the polycrystalline samples into the ferroelectric orthorhombic phase. This method may become an important tool for stabilizing the ferroelectric phase for the next generation of electronic devices. —BG
The pursuit of high-accuracy localization without relying on the global positioning system (GPS) has gained significant interest in recent years. The deployment of autonomous vehicles (AVs) in ...diverse indoor applications exemplifies a prominent domain where the demand for a robust positioning system is evident. With the advancements in 5G and beyond radio access networks (RAN), the availability of new positioning signals presents an opportunity to deliver accurate location estimates for these applications. Nevertheless, these signals encounter substantial path losses in indoor environments. Additionally, the precise localization within existing frameworks requires stringent synchronization, which is challenging to meet. In this paper, we propose OFDRA: Optimal Femtocell Deployment for Accurate Indoor Positioning of RIS-Mounted AVs, a novel positioning framework that is robust against multipath and does not require strict synchronization between anchor-anchor or anchor-target entities. Specifically, OFDRA is designed to operate in scenarios where the line of sight (LOS) exists. The first design objective of OFDRA is the mitigation of ranging errors by leveraging a compact reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) mounted on top of AVs acting as a programmable mirror in a 5G network. The second design objective is to achieve optimal anchor placement in three-dimensional indoor spaces, thereby reducing the geometric dilution of precision (GDOP) and mitigating geometric-induced errors in the final position estimation. Our experimental verification reveals that the localization error is influenced by GDOP, encompassing both the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">X-Y </tex-math></inline-formula> plane and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">Z </tex-math></inline-formula>-axis estimations. Through optimized anchor placement, OFDRA demonstrates a seven-fold enhancement in <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">Z </tex-math></inline-formula>-axis accuracy compared to the state-of-the-art, achieving a sub-1 m three-dimensional accuracy for more than 95% of cases.
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