International prevalence patterns of low eGFR in adults aged 18-60 without traditional risk factors from a population-based cross-sectional disadvantaged populations eGFR epidemiology (DEGREE) study.

The disadvantaged populations eGFR (estimated glomerular filtration rate) epidemiology (DEGREE) study was designed to gain insight into the burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) of undetermined cause (CKDu) using standard protocols to estimate the general-population prevalence of low eGFR internationally. Therefore, we estimated the age-standardized prevalence of eGFR under 60 ml/min per 1.73m in adults aged 18-60, excluding participants with commonly known causes of CKD; an ACR (albumin/creatinine ratio) over 300 mg/g or equivalent, or self-reported or measured (HT) hypertension or (DM) diabetes mellitus, stratified by sex and location.

Pathways of Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Peer Bullying in Children and Youth: A Scoping Review.

Growing up in socioeconomic disadvantage increases risk of peer bullying at school. Both socioeconomic status and involvement in bullying are predictive of a range of adverse developmental outcomes. However, neither (a) the mechanisms whereby disadvantage increases bullying risk nor (b) the developmental outcomes for which bullying may mediate disadvantage are clear.

Indirect effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines in the pre-omicron and omicron periods: A nation-wide test-negative case-control study in Brazil.

Objectives: Mass COVID-19 immunization campaigns altered the pandemic's progress by protecting the vaccine recipient and reducing transmission. However, evidence for indirect vaccine effectiveness (IVE) is limited due to the difficulties of ascertaining this type of protection.

Methods: Using linked national Brazilian databases, we adapted the test-negative design to evaluate the IVE against symptomatic infection.

Understanding Lived Experience Organizations: A Systematic Scoping Review of Organizational Elements and Characteristics.

Objective: Mental health lived experience organizations (LEOs) and their lived experience workforce are increasingly recognized as invaluable. However, a deeper understanding of the elements that enhance or inhibit LEOs' efficacy is required to learn how to sustain LEOs and support their workforce. Rapid international expansion has resulted in significant LEO growth and change, challenging many LEOs to adapt.

A Scottish provenance for the Altar Stone of Stonehenge.

Understanding the provenance of megaliths used in the Neolithic stone circle at Stonehenge, southern England, gives insight into the culture and connectivity of prehistoric Britain. The source of the Altar Stone, the central recumbent sandstone megalith, has remained unknown, with recent work discounting an Anglo-Welsh Basin origin. Here we present the age and chemistry of detrital zircon, apatite and rutile grains from within fragments of the Altar Stone.

What needs to happen to 'level up' public health?

The aim of this article is to examine what needs to happen in central, sub-regional and local government to 'level up' public health in the United Kingdom (UK). The Government's recent White Paper outlined ambitious targets for reducing regional disparities, including a 'mission' to tackle inequalities in healthy life expectancy and reduce inequalities in the social determinants of health outcomes. However, the approach has been criticised for failing to integrate population health policy objectives, programmes and interventions into the implementation of the levelling up agenda and its associated 'missions'.

Variation in milk‑iodine concentration around the world: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the difference between season and dairy-production system.

Iodine is essential for thyroid hormone production. Milk and dairy products are important sources of iodine in many countries. We aimed to review systematically the variation in milk‑iodine concentration between countries, seasons and farming practice.

Potential asthma risk factors do not account for global asthma symptom prevalence patterns and time trends in children and adolescents.

Background: The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) and the Global Asthma Network (GAN) conducted a series of global asthma prevalence surveys, between 1990 and 2020, in adolescents aged 13-14 and children aged 6-7 years. We used them to assess whether potential asthma risk factors explain global asthma symptom prevalence trends over this period.

Method: We fitted mixed-effects linear regression models to estimate associations between centre-level risk factor prevalence and both the mid-point asthma symptom prevalence and the change per decade.

Scientific Committee guidance on appraising and integrating evidence from epidemiological studies for use in EFSA's scientific assessments.

EFSA requested its Scientific Committee to prepare a guidance document on appraising and integrating evidence from epidemiological studies for use in EFSA's scientific assessments. The guidance document provides an introduction to epidemiological studies and illustrates the typical biases, which may be present in different epidemiological study designs. It then describes key epidemiological concepts relevant for evidence appraisal.

A UK framework for the assessment and integration of different scientific evidence streams in chemical risk assessment.

Background: Few methods are available for transparently combining different evidence streams for chemical risk assessment to reach an integrated conclusion on the probability of causation. Hence, the UK Committees on Toxicity (COT) and on Carcinogenicity (COC) have reviewed current practice and developed guidance on how to achieve this in a transparent manner, using graphical visualisation.

Methods/approach: All lines of evidence, including toxicological, epidemiological, new approach methodologies, and mode of action should be considered, taking account of their strengths/weaknesses in their relative weighting towards a conclusion on the probability of causation.

A SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in a public order and safety training facility in England, June 2021.

Background: The public order and safety (POS) sector remains susceptible to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreaks, as workplace attendance is typically compulsory and close physical contact is often needed. Here, we report on a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak with an attack rate of 39% (9/23), which occurred between 19 and 29 June 2021 among a cohort of new POS recruits participating in a mandatory 18-week training programme in England.

Methods: The COVID-OUT (COVID-19 Outbreak investigation to Understand Transmission) study team undertook a multidisciplinary outbreak investigation, including viral surface sampling, workplace environmental assessment, participant viral and antibody testing, and questionnaires, at the two associated training facilities between 5 July and 24 August 2021.

Disagreement concerning atopic dermatitis subtypes between an English prospective cohort (ALSPAC) and linked electronic health records.

Background: Subtypes of atopic dermatitis (AD) have been derived from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) based on the presence and severity of symptoms reported in questionnaires (severe-frequent, moderate-frequent, moderate-declining, mild-intermittent, unaffected-rare). Good agreement between ALSPAC and linked electronic health records (EHRs) would increase trust in the clinical validity of these subtypes and allow inference of subtypes from EHRs alone, which would enable their study in large primary care databases.

Objectives: Firstly, to explore whether the presence and number of AD records in EHRs agree with AD symptom and severity reports from ALSPAC.

A SARS-CoV-2 outbreak investigation at a storage and distribution centre in England: an assessment of worker- and workplace-related risk factors.

An outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 (1 March to 10 May 2021) with an attack rate of 26.5% among approximately 1150 workers at a storage and distribution centre in England prompted a multidisciplinary outbreak investigation (5 May to 6 August 2021), with the aim of better understanding worker- and workplace-related risk factors for viral transmission in the warehousing sector. Overall, environmental factors (e.

Gut microbiome signature and nasal lavage inflammatory markers in young people with asthma.

Background: Asthma is a complex disease and a severe global public health problem resulting from interactions between genetic background and environmental exposures. It has been suggested that gut microbiota may be related to asthma development; however, such relationships needs further investigation.

Objective: This study aimed to characterize the gut microbiota as well as the nasal lavage cytokine profile of asthmatic and nonasthmatic individuals.

Rescue from complications after pancreaticoduodenectomies at a low-volume Caribbean center: Value of tailored peri-pancreatectomy protocols.

Background: Pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is a technically complex operation, with a relatively high risk for complications. The ability to rescue patients from post-PD complications is as a recognized quality measure. Tailored protocols were instituted at our low volume facility in the year 2013.

Excess Mortality Calculations to Assess the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Concepts and Methodological Issues.

We discuss some intriguing methodological aspects of excess mortality analyses, which have been widely used to describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We describe the main ways of presenting excess mortality: as a mortality rate (incidence rate) or as a percentage increase (relative risk or rate ratio). We discuss what should be regarded as the null value of excess mortality (i.

Presentation of a weight bias internalization tool for use in pregnancy and a call for future research: A commentary.

Background: Emerging evidence has shown that weight stigma is a concern during pregnancy, with several studies documenting common sources including healthcare, the media and interpersonal networks. Experiencing weight stigma may lead to weight bias internalization (WBI), whereby individuals accept and self-direct negative weight-related stereotypes, and limited research has assessed this in the context of pregnancy. Pregnancy is unique in terms of weight changes as many individuals will experience gestational weight gain (GWG).

Risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection at a UK electricity-generating company: a test-negative design case-control study.

Objectives: Identify workplace risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection, using data collected by a UK electricity-generating company.

Methods: Using a test-negative design case-control study, we estimated the OR of infection by job category, site, test reason, sex, vaccination status, vulnerability, site outage and site COVID-19 weekly risk rating, adjusting for age, test date and test type.

Results: From an original 80 077 COVID-19 tests, there were 70 646 included in the final analysis.

Outcomes of Best-Practice Guided Digital Mental Health Interventions for Youth and Young Adults with Emerging Symptoms: Part I. A Systematic Review of Socioemotional Outcomes and Recommendations.

Youth-specific digital mental health interventions (DMHI) represent an emerging field of study, and aim to increase access, improve socioemotional outcomes, and, where required, support triage to targeted interventions. However, prior reviews have reported inconsistent findings on the clinical effectiveness of such interventions in young adults (12-25 years). Further, shortfalls remain for the impact of guided interventions based on the mode of delivery and the type of human support personnel (e.

Covalent bicyclization of protein complexes yields durable quaternary structures.

Proteins are essential biomolecules and central to biotechnological applications. In many cases, assembly into higher-order structures is a prerequisite for protein function. Under conditions relevant for applications, protein integrity is often challenged, resulting in disassembly, aggregation, and loss of function.

Environmental Stress and the Morphology of .

AbstractMorphological variation is sometimes used as an indicator of environmental stress in animals. Here, we assessed how multiple morphological traits covaried in exposed to five common forms of environmental stress (high temperature, presence of predator cues, high salinity, low food abundance, and low Ca). We measured animal body length, body width, head width, eyespot diameter, and tail spine length along with mass in animals of five different ages (3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 d).