Sensory over-responsivity and atypical neural responses to socially relevant stimuli in autism.

Although aversive responses to sensory stimuli are common in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it remains unknown whether the social relevance of aversive sensory inputs affects their processing. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate neural responses to mildly aversive nonsocial and social sensory stimuli as well as how sensory over-responsivity (SOR) severity relates to these responses. Participants included 21 ASD and 25 typically-developing (TD) youth, aged 8.6-18.0 years. Results showed that TD youth exhibited significant neural discrimination of socially relevant versus irrelevant aversive sensory stimuli, particularly in the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), regions that are crucial for sensory and social processing. In contrast, ASD youth showed reduced neural discrimination of social versus nonsocial stimuli in the amygdala and OFC, as well as overall greater neural responses to nonsocial compared with social stimuli. Moreover, higher SOR in ASD was associated with heightened responses in sensory-motor regions to socially-relevant stimuli. These findings further our understanding of the relationship between sensory and social processing in ASD, suggesting limited attention to the social relevance compared with aversiveness level of sensory input in ASD versus TD youth, particularly in ASD youth with higher SOR.

Current practice and access to prostate MR imaging in France.

PURPOSE: To obtain an overview of the degree of discrepancy between current clinical practice of prostate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in France and recommendations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A brief survey was sent to 1229 members of the French society of urology in order to identify their indications of prostate MRI and its impact on patient management. The urologists were asked to answer several questions regarding age, practice modality, prostate MRI examinations (technique, indication before first biopsy, second biopsy, cancer staging, active surveillance, recurrence, focal therapy) and quality of reports. RESULTS: A total of 445 responses were received (participation rate of 36%). The mean delay for obtaining an appointment for prostate MRI ranged between 15-30 days in 54%. Fifty-four percent of MRI reports contained a PIRADS score and 23% a Likert score. The indications of multiparametric-MRI were tumor detection/location prior to repeat biopsy (90%), cancer staging (85%), management of patients under active surveillance (85%), selection of candidates to focal therapy (63%), tumor detection/location in biopsy naïve patients (53%), detection of local recurrence after radical (51%). Only 119 urologists (28.6%) had access to image fusion (MRI and transrectal ultrasound) and 351 (85.4%) used cognitive fusion. Mostly, targeted biopsies are done by urologists alone (nearly 80%), a very few are done by radiologists (8%) or by the two of them in collaboration (12%). CONCLUSION: The majority of urologists consider that prostate MRI is essential for the management of patients with prostate cancer. Practices are ahead of recommendations particularly before the first biopsy and in active surveillance.

Obesity and symptoms of depression among adults in selected countries of the Middle East: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Although obesity has been widely recognized for its consequences on physical health, its psychological burden in the adult populations in the Middle East remains unclear. This meta-analysis synthesized data from observational studies to investigate the association between obesity and depression among adult populations in Middle Eastern countries. Five bibliographical electronic databases were searched for studies published up to April 2014. Pooled meta-analytic estimates were derived using the random-effect models. Three case-control studies and five cross-sectional studies were identified. Meta-analysis showed significant positive associations between obesity and depression across study designs, with an overall effect of odds ratio 1.27 (95% confidence interval 1.11-1.44). The association between obesity and depression was more marked in women than men although that difference was not statistically significant. Other subgroup analysis showed that none of the potential factors including the assessment for obesity or depression, confounder control and study quality had a modification effect on the studied association. Meta-analysis of eight observational studies from five countries in the Middle East suggests an evidence of a positive association between obesity and depression among adult populations, which appeared to be more marked among women. Future research should examine the causal pathways between obesity and depression.

Strategies used by women workers to reconcile family responsibilities with atypical work schedules in the service sector.

OBJECTIVE: Workers' attempts to accommodate family needs may be considered illegitimate in the paid work sphere. Their attempts at work-family balancing (WFB) in that sphere can remain invisible, even when those attempts require considerable energy. Since identification of WFB strategies can potentially lead to suggestions to improve management practices, we report an attempt to find them in the work sphere. PARTICIPANTS: 14 care aides in a Québec residence for seniors and 2~schedule managers were recruited. METHODS: Qualitative ergonomic analysis was employed. 24 hours observation; interviews of nursing and human resources staff; qualitative ergonomic analysis by two researchers; feedback collected from meetings with management and union. Strategies for schedule choice were compared between care aides with heavier vs. lighter family responsibilities. RESULTS: For workers with heavier family responsibilities, choice of work schedules was almost entirely conditioned by family considerations, leaving little leeway to manage workers' own health protection. CONCLUSIONS: Family constraints affected activity at work, and strategies for handling family constraints could potentially be affected by changes in work organization. Managers should encourage full discussion of work-family balancing strategies if they wish to adapt their working conditions to the workers, and ergonomists should include this balancing as a facet of work activity, despite possible negative consequences.

Functional interactions of genes mediating convergent extension, knypek and trilobite, during the partitioning of the eye primordium in zebrafish.

Vertebrate eye development in the anterior region of the neural plate involves a series of inductive interactions dependent on the underlying prechordal plate and signals from the midline of the neural plate, including Hedgehog. The mechanisms controlling the spatiotemporal expression pattern of hedgehog genes are currently not understood. Cyclopia is observed in trilobite (tri) and knypek (kny) mutants with affected convergent extension of the embryonic axis during gastrulation. Here, we demonstrate that tri mutants show a high frequency of partial or complete cyclopia, kny mutants exhibit cyclopia infrequently, while knym119 trim209 double-mutant embryos have dramatically reduced convergent extension and are completely cyclopic. We analyzed the relationships between the convergent extension defect, the expression of hedgehog and prechordal plate genes, and the formation of cyclopia in knym119 and trim209 mutants. Our results correlate the cyclopia phenotype with the abnormal location of hh-expressing cells with respect to the optic primordium. We show that cyclopia in these mutants is not due to an incompetence of tri and kny cells to respond to Hedgehog signaling. Rather, it is a consequence of exceeding a critical distance (>40-50 micrometer) between hedgehog-expressing cells and the prospective eye field. We hypothesize that at this distance, midline cells are not in an appropriate position to physically separate the eye field and that HH and other signals do not reach the appropriate target cells. Furthermore, tri and kny have overlapping functions in establishing proper alignment of the anterior neural plate and midline cells expressing shh and twhh genes when the partitioning of the eye primordium takes place.