The burden of injury in Central, Eastern, and Western European sub-region: a systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 Study.

BACKGROUND: Injury remains a major concern to public health in the European region. Previous iterations of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study showed wide variation in injury death and disability adjusted life year (DALY) rates across Europe, indicating injury inequality gaps between sub-regions and countries. The objectives of this study were to: 1) compare GBD 2019 estimates on injury mortality and DALYs across European sub-regions and countries by cause-of-injury category and sex; 2) examine changes in injury DALY rates over a 20 year-period by cause-of-injury category, sub-region and country; and 3) assess inequalities in injury mortality and DALY rates across the countries. METHODS: We performed a secondary database descriptive study using the GBD 2019 results on injuries in 44 European countries from 2000 to 2019. Inequality in DALY rates between these countries was assessed by calculating the DALY rate ratio between the highest-ranking country and lowest-ranking country in each year. RESULTS: In 2019, in Eastern Europe 80 [95% uncertainty interval (UI): 71 to 89] people per 100,000 died from injuries; twice as high compared to Central Europe (38 injury deaths per 100,000; 95% UI 34 to 42) and three times as high compared to Western Europe (27 injury deaths per 100,000; 95%UI 25 to 28). The injury DALY rates showed less pronounced differences between Eastern (5129 DALYs per 100,000; 95% UI: 4547 to 5864), Central (2940 DALYs per 100,000; 95% UI: 2452 to 3546) and Western Europe (1782 DALYs per 100,000; 95% UI: 1523 to 2115). Injury DALY rate was lowest in Italy (1489 DALYs per 100,000) and highest in Ukraine (5553 DALYs per 100,000). The difference in injury DALY rates by country was larger for males compared to females. The DALY rate ratio was highest in 2005, with DALY rate in the lowest-ranking country (Russian Federation) 6.0 times higher compared to the highest-ranking country (Malta). After 2005, the DALY rate ratio between the lowest- and the highest-ranking country gradually decreased to 3.7 in 2019. CONCLUSIONS: Injury mortality and DALY rates were highest in Eastern Europe and lowest in Western Europe, although differences in injury DALY rates declined rapidly, particularly in the past decade. The injury DALY rate ratio of highest- and lowest-ranking country declined from 2005 onwards, indicating declining inequalities in injuries between European countries.

The burden of mental disorders, substance use disorders and self-harm among young people in Europe, 1990-2019: Findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.

Background: Mental health is a public health issue for European young people, with great heterogeneity in resource allocation. Representative population-based studies are needed. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2019 provides internationally comparable information on trends in the health status of populations and changes in the leading causes of disease burden over time. Methods: Prevalence, incidence, Years Lived with Disability (YLDs) and Years of Life Lost (YLLs) from mental disorders (MDs), substance use disorders (SUDs) and self-harm were estimated for young people aged 10-24 years in 31 European countries. Rates per 100,000 population, percentage changes in 1990-2019, 95% Uncertainty Intervals (UIs), and correlations with Sociodemographic Index (SDI), were estimated. Findings: In 2019, rates per 100,000 population were 16,983 (95% UI 12,823 - 21,630) for MDs, 3,891 (3,020 - 4,905) for SUDs, and 89·1 (63·8 - 123·1) for self-harm. In terms of disability, anxiety contributed to 647·3 (432-912·3) YLDs, while in terms of premature death, self-harm contributed to 319·6 (248·9-412·8) YLLs, per 100,000 population. Over the 30 years studied, YLDs increased in eating disorders (14·9%;9·4-20·1) and drug use disorders (16·9%;8·9-26·3), and decreased in idiopathic developmental intellectual disability (-29·1%;23·8-38·5). YLLs decreased in self-harm (-27·9%;38·3-18·7). Variations were found by sex, age-group and country. The burden of SUDs and self-harm was higher in countries with lower SDI, MDs were associated with SUDs. Interpretation: Mental health conditions represent an important burden among young people living in Europe. National policies should strengthen mental health, with a specific focus on young people. Funding: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

3,4-Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) Sensing Based on Electropolymerized Molecularly Imprinted Polymers on Silver Nanoparticles and Carboxylated Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes.

3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) is a harmful and controlled synthetic cathinone used as a psychostimulant drug and as sport-enhancing substance. A sensor was developed for the direct analysis of MDPV by transducing its oxidation signal by means of an electropolymerized molecularly imprinted polymer (e-MIP) built in-situ on the screen-printed carbon electrode's (SPCE) surface previously covered with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Benzene-1,2-diamine was used as the functional monomer while the analyte was used as the template monomer. Each step of the sensor's development was studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in a solution containing ferricyanide, however no redox probe was required for the actual MDPV measurements. The interaction between the poly(o-phenylenediamine) imprinted polymer and MDPV was studied by density-functional theory (DFT) methods. The SPCE-MWCNT-AgNP-MIP sensor responded adequately to the variation of MDPV concentration. It was shown that AgNPs enhanced the electrochemical signal by around a 3-fold factor. Making use of square-wave voltammetry (SWV) the developed sensor provided a limit of detection (LOD) of 1.8 µmol L-1. The analytical performance of the proposed sensor paves the way to the development of a portable device for MDPV on-site sensing to be applied in forensic and doping analysis.

A medical algorithm for Cotard delusion based on more than 300 literature cases.

OBJECTIVE: Cotard delusion (CD) is a rare psychiatric disorder in which the patient believes to be dead, i.e., the patient holds nihilistic delusions concerning his/her own existence. Taking into account its rarity, and possible subdiagnosis due to unawareness, most of the literature consists of case studies, complicating a more systematic approach and leading to difficulties in deciding the best clinical guidance to offer the patient suffering from CD. The objective of this work is to review the literature and propose an algorithm to help the differential diagnosis and the management of this condition. METHOD: To do so, an extensive literature research was performed using several bibliographic databases. Since data on this topic is scarce, references in every article were cross-checked, aiming to obtain all available peer-reviewed works on CD. RESULTS: Research resulted in 328 cases. Several treatment modalities were reported to improve the symptoms of CD, from pharmacotherapy - mainly consisting of antipsychotics and antidepressants - to electroconvulsive therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Despite its challenging diagnosis, the delusion can be treated with readily available care. Hopefully, this work can be a useful tool to doctors when encountering this odd affliction.

Interaction of chlorogenic acid with model lipid membranes and its influence on antiradical activity.

Chlorogenic acid (CGA) is a strong phenolic antioxidant with antibacterial properties composed by a caffeoyl ester of quinic acid. Although a number of benefits has been reported and related to interactions with the red blood cell membranes, details on its membrane action and how composition and membrane state may affect it, is not yet well defined. In this work, the interaction of CGA with lipid monolayers and bilayers composed by 1,2-dimiristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC); 1,2-di-O-tetradecyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (14:0 diether PC); 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) and 1,2-di-O-hexadecyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (16:0 diether PC) were studied at different surface pressures (π). The kinetics of interaction was found to be more rapid in DMPC than in the absence of carbonyl groups. Measurements by FTIR-ATR at different water activities confirm specific interactions of CGA with carbonyl and phosphate groups affecting water level along hydrocarbon region. The antioxidant activity of CGA in the presence of DMPC unilamellar vesicles, evidenced by the absorbance reduction of the radical cation ABTS•+, is significantly different with respect to aqueous solution. The influence of CGA on antiradical activity (ARA) with lipid membranes depending on the hydration state of the lipid interface is discussed.

Water Behavior at the Phase Transition of Phospholipid Matrixes Assessed by FTIR Spectroscopy.

Lipid membranes are one of the most important biological matrixes in which biochemical processes take place. This particular lipid arrangement is driven by different water disposition interacting with it, which is related to different water states with different energy levels at the interphase. In our work, we report changes in water content and distinctive water states by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy of this self-assembled matrix at different water contents and temperatures. To determine whether water properties at lipid interphases depend on the group of the lipid molecule at which it is bound the phase-transition temperature of 1,2-dimiristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC), 1,2-di-O-tetradecyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (14:0 diether PC) was followed by the changes in frequency of the different groups of the lipids by attenuated total reflection (ATR)-FTIR spectroscopy at different humidities. A comparison of these two lipids enables us to put into relevance the contribution of the CO groups as a hydration site. These changes were compared with those occurring at the water band, and a value of the enthalpic change was evaluated from them. The -OH stretching in the liquid water IR spectrum is the principal region used to understand its molecular organization (4000-3000 cm-1). The strength of hydrogen bonding depends on the cooperative/anticooperative nature of the surrounding hydrogen bonds, with the strongest hydrogen bonds giving the lowest vibrational frequencies. Thus, we can use water as a mirror of the membrane state in this kind of biological systems. Different phospholipids associate water at particular modes according to their structures. This may produce modulation of packing and hydration suitable for the incorporation of amino acids, peptides, and enzymes.

Modulation of Interfacial Hydration by Carbonyl Groups in Lipid Membranes.

The lack of carbonyl groups and the presence of ether bonds give the lipid interphase a different water organization around the phosphate groups that affects the compressibility and electrical properties of lipid membranes. Generalized polarization of 1,2-di-O-tetradecyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (14:0 diether PC) in correlation with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis indicates a higher level of polarizability of water molecules in the membrane phase around the phosphate groups both below and above Tm. This reorganization of water promotes a different response in compressibility and dipole moment of the interphase, which is related to different H bonding of water molecules with phosphates (PO) and carbonyl (CO) groups.

Versatile Electrochemical Sensing Platform for Bacteria.

Bacterial infections present one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide, resulting in an urgent need for sensitive, selective, cost-efficient, and easy-to-handle technologies to rapidly detect contaminations and infections with pathogens. The presented research reports a fully functional chemical-detection principle, addressing all of the above-mentioned requirements for a successful biosensing device. With the examples of Escherichia coli and Neisseria gonorrheae, we present an electrochemical biosensor based on the bacterial expression of cytochrome c oxidase for the selective detection of clinically relevant concentrations within seconds after pathogen immobilization. The generality of the biochemical reaction, as well as the easy substitution of target-specific antibodies make this concept applicable to a large number of different pathogenic bacteria. The successful transfer of this semidirect detection principle onto inexpensive, screen-printed electrodes for portable devices represents a potential major advance in the field of biosensor development.

Detection of Escherichia coli bacteria by impact electrochemistry.

We report the redox mediated detection of Escherichia coli bacteria at carbon microelectrodes, using the impact electrochemistry technique. By employing N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-para-phenylene-diamine (TMPD) as redox mediator a concentration dependency for bacteria impacts was observed, whereby its impact frequency is shown to be in good agreement with theoretically predicted values.

The Analytical Challenge in the Determination of Cathinones, Key-Players in the Worldwide Phenomenon of Novel Psychoactive Substances.

Since the turn of the century, the synthesis, availability, and use of new psychoactive substances (NPS) have been increasingly reported worldwide, being considered a complex global phenomenon. As most NPS are not detected in routine drug screening, extra efforts have been made to develop new analytical methods for the detection of these compounds, with several approaches being successfully applied and reported in the literature. The increased traffic of NPS is often related to the limited capacity for detecting and monitoring these compounds, which makes it essential to explore in detail both conventional and more recent approaches to prospect novel sensing strategies and develop in-the-field sensors that are able to detect NPS in a time-efficient manner, within a wide range of concentrations, and in a variety of sample matrices, such as biological samples, wastewater, powders, crystals, and post-mortem specimens. In this context, this review aims to provide an overview of the state of the art in the identification and analytical detection of cathinones, a considerable group within NPS, as well as a critical discussion of the most frequently described sample preparation techniques.

Gabapentin decreases microglial cells and reverses bilateral hyperalgesia and allodynia in rats with chronic myositis.

In the present work, we investigated the antinociceptive effect of gabapentin in a chronic myositis model and its interference in spinal glial cells. Chronic myositis was induced by injection of Complete Freund Adjuvant (CFA) into the right gastrocnemius (GS) muscle of rats and tests for evaluating mechanical hyperalgesia, thermal hyperalgesia and tactile allodynia were performed. Pharmacological treatment with gabapentin was administrated intrathecally and 100µg and 200µg doses were tested. For analyzing astrocytes and microglia in the spinal cord, immunochemistry assay was performed. It was found that gabapentin 200µg reverted CFA-induced chronic muscle pain bilaterally, in all applied tests and it was able to attenuate microglial but not astrocytes activation in the dorsal horn of spinal cord. In conclusion, gabapentin was able to inhibit hyperalgesia and allodynia in chronic myositis and also to attenuate spinal microglial activation. Therefore, gabapentin could be used as treatment for targeting chronic muscle pain.

Development of a Nafion/MWCNT-SPCE-Based Portable Sensor for the Voltammetric Analysis of the Anti-Tuberculosis Drug Ethambutol.

Herein we describe the development, characterization and application of an electrochemical sensor based on the use of Nafion/MWCNT-modified screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) for the voltammetric detection of the anti-tuberculosis (anti-TB) drug ethambutol (ETB). The electrochemical behaviour of the drug at the surface of the developed Nafion/MWCNT-SPCEs was studied through cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV) techniques. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were employed to characterize the modified surface of the electrodes. Results showed that, compared to both unmodified and MWCNTs-modified SPCEs, negatively charged Nafion/MWCNT-SPCEs remarkably enhanced the electrochemical sensitivity and selectivity for ETB due to the synergistic effect of the electrostatic interaction between cationic ETB molecules and negatively charged Nafion polymer and the inherent electrocatalytic properties of both MWCNTs and Nafion. Nafion/MWCNT-SPCEs provided excellent biocompatibility, good electrical conductivity, low electrochemical interferences and a high signal-to-noise ratio, providing excellent performance towards ETB quantification in microvolumes of human urine and human blood serum samples. The outcomes of this paper confirm that the Nafion/MWCNT-SPCE-based device could be a potential candidate for the development of a low-cost, yet reliable and efficient electrochemical portable sensor for the low-level detection of this antimycobacterial drug in biological samples.

Interaction of Phenylalanine with DPPC Model Membranes: More Than a Hydrophobic Interaction.

The negative free energy previously reported is explained by the stabilization of a PC-Phe (phosphocholine-phenylalanine) complex in the presence of water shown by the decrease in the symmetric stretching frequency of the phosphate group of the lipid (PO2(-)). An entropic contribution due to the disruption of the water network around the phenyl and in the membrane defect may be invoked. The dipole potential decrease is explained by the orientation of the carboxylate opposing to the CO of the lipids with oxygen moiety toward the low hydrated hydrocarbon core. The symmetric bending frequency of NH3(+) group of Phe, decreases in 5.2 cm(-1) in relation to water congruent with zeta potential shift to positive values. The Phe to DPPC dissociation constant is Kd = 2.23 ± 0.09 mM, from which the free energy change is about -4.54 kcal/mol at 25 °C. This may be due to hydrophobic contributions and two hydrogen bonds.

Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae) as a potential Brassica napus pollinator (cv. Hyola 432) (Brassicaceae), in Southern Brazil.

Brassica napus Linnaeus is considered a self-compatible crop; however, studies show that bee foraging elevates their seed production. Considering bee food shortages during the winter season and that the canola is a winter crop, this study aimed to evaluate the foraging behaviour of Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1758 regarding those flowers, and to verify if it presents adequate behaviour for successfully pollinating this crop in Rio Grande do Sul State. The study was carried out in a canola field, in Southern Brazil. The anthesis stages were morphologically characterised and then related to stigma receptivity and pollen grain viability. Similarly, the behaviour of A. mellifera individuals on flowers was followed, considering the number of flowers visited per plant, the amount of time spent on the flowers, touched structures, and collected resources. Floral fidelity was inferred by analysing the pollen load of bees collected on flowers. The bees visited from 1-7 flowers/plant (x = 2.02; sd = 1.16), the time spent on the flowers varied between 1-43 seconds (x = 3.29; sd = 2.36) and, when seeking nectar and pollen, they invariably touched anthers and stigmas. The pollen load presented 100% of B. napus pollen. The bees' attendance to a small number of flowers/plants, their short permanence on flowers, their contact with anthers and stigma and the integral floral constancy allows their consideration as potential B. napus pollinators.