An empirical investigation into the effectiveness of genetic genealogy to identify individuals in the UK.

The use of genetic genealogy techniques to identify Joseph James DeAngelo as the prime suspect in the Golden State Killer case in 2018 has opened up a new approach to investigation of cold cases. Since that breakthrough, genetic genealogy methods have been reported to be applied to around 100 cases. To date, all of these reports relate to investigations in the US, where the high uptake of "direct-to-consumer" (DTC) genetic testing by individuals conducting private ancestral research has provided the necessary publicly available data for successful forensic investigations. We have conducted a study to assess the likely effectiveness of genetic genealogy techniques if applied to investigations in the UK. Ten volunteers provided their own SNP array data, downloaded from a DTC provider of their choice. These data sets were anonymised and uploaded to the GEDmatch Genesis genealogy website, mimicking data sets from unsourced crime samples or unidentified human remains. A team of experienced genealogists then attempted to identify the donors of the anonymised data sets by working with matches on the database and identifying points where the matches' trees intersect to determine their shared family lineages which were further investigated using traditional resources (such as birth, marriage, death and census records, social media and online family trees). Through these methods, four of the ten donors were identified, at least to the level of one of a set of siblings. This confirms that, despite the over-representation of US citizens on publicly accessible genealogy databases, there is still potential for effective use in investigations outside the US where legislation permits. One of our four identified individuals was of Indian heritage (via St Vincent and the Grenadines) highlighting that in the right circumstances individuals of non-European origin can be identified.

Combination of Clozapine With Long-Acting Injectable Antipsychotics in Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia: Preliminary Evidence From Health Care Utilization Indices.

BACKGROUND: Clozapine is indicated for treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS), but only 30%-60% of patients will respond. There have been studies of clozapine augmentation with oral second-generation antipsychotics with mixed results, but no studies considering the combination with long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIAs). This study is the first to attempt to establish the benefits of the combination of clozapine and LAIAs in TRS using a variety of outcome measures of symptomatology and quality of life. METHODS: A mirror-image study design was employed to review outcome measures 2 years pre and post combination of clozapine with a LAIA in a small sample of patients with chronic schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders followed by the assertive community treatment service in the community. Outcome measures include demographic data, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Clinical Global Impressions Scale-Improvement and Severity, 24-item Behavior and Symptom Identification Scale, World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale, Health of the Nation Outcome Scales, Threshold Assessment Grid, number of admissions, emergency department (ED) visits, and hospital bed days. RESULTS: Paired sample t tests showed a statistically significant reduction in average ED visits and hospital admissions in the 2 years post combination, with an average 1.8 fewer ED visits (95% CI, 0.58-3.02, P = .024) and a mean reduction of 0.85 hospital admissions (95% CI , 0.363-1.337, P = .008). The reduction in hospital bed days post combination was not statistically significant. Chart reviews found insufficient data for analysis of the remaining outcome measures. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of clozapine and a long-acting injectable antipsychotic appears to reduce health care utilization in terms of ED visits and number of hospital admissions. Larger prospective studies will be required to confirm the results.

Quality of life in young people: ratings and factor structure of the Quality of Life Profile-Adolescent Version.

The purpose of the study was to provide British data relating to the 54-item Quality of Life Profile Adolescent Version (QOLPAV; Raphael et al., 1996, Journal of Adolescent Health, 19, 366-375) and to explore the underlying factor structure of the questionnaire. The relationship between demographic variables (such as social economic status, gender and ethnicity) and quality of life (QOL) were investigated. Eight hundred and ninety-nine young people aged 12-16 were recruited from secondary schools in the south of England to participate in the study. Factor analysis highlighted eight dimensions embedded within the scale, which were largely consistent with the QOL model proposed by Raphael et al. (1996, Journal of Adolescent Health, 19, 366-375). A notable exception concerned items from the subdomain of "spiritual being", which did not cluster together but dispersed across multiple factors. Exclusion of complex items and those with low loadings on subdomains resulted in a briefer scale consisting of 32 items. Of the demographic variables examined, only age was significantly associated with quality of life scores.