Daily nonsuicidal self-injury thoughts in emerging adulthood: The relevance of pre-adolescent borderline traits.

Longitudinal studies exploring the role of early personality vulnerabilities as risk factors for later NSSI dynamics are scarce. In this study, we assess how pre-adolescent borderline personality pathology (BPP) traits (assessed at mean age 12.78; SDage = 1.38, age range = 7.17-14.78) shape dynamic links between daily socio-emotional dysregulation and NSSI thoughts during emerging adulthood (Mage = 20.96, SDage = 1.63). Mothers of 131 children completed questionnaires about their child's BPP traits in pre-adolescence. These children were re-assessed eight years later and were asked to complete a daily diary for 14 consecutive days. During these 14 days, behavioral and emotional dysregulation as well as NSSI thoughts were self-reported. Multilevel structural equation modeling was used (1) to examine dynamic links between socio-emotional dysregulation manifestations and NSSI thoughts in early adulthood, and (2) to explore the role of pre-adolescent BPP traits in moderating these early-adult dynamic associations. Our findings suggest that young adults who were described by their mothers as high on BPP traits (especially anxious and paranoid traits) during pre-adolescence, tended to respond more with NSSI thoughts when experiencing dysregulation or when perceiving others as rejecting in young adulthood. Results are discussed in terms of potential targets for indicated prevention of NSSI development.

Association of alcohol control policies with adolescent alcohol consumption and with social inequality in adolescent alcohol consumption: A multilevel study in 33 countries and regions.

Background Previous research found inconsistent associations between alcohol control policies and socioeconomic inequality with adolescent drinking outcomes. This study expands the focus beyond individual associations to examine whether a combination of policies is related to socioeconomic inequality in adolescent drinking outcomes and whether this relationship varies across survey years. Methods Multilevel modelling of 4 waves of repeat cross-sectional survey data (2001/02, 2005/06, 2009/10, and 2013/14) from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study was carried out. The sample was composed of 671,084 adolescents (51% girls) aged 11, 13, and 15 (mean age=13.58; SD=1.65) from 33 European and North American countries/regions. The dependent variables were lifetime alcohol consumption, weekly alcohol consumption, and lifetime drunkenness. Independent variables were of three types: individual-level variables (age, sex, Family Affluence Scale, and the Perceived Family Wealth), time-level variable (survey year), and context-level variables (minimum legal drinking age, physical availability, advertising restrictions, a total alcohol policy index, and affordability of alcohol). Results The total alcohol policy index showed a negative relationship with both lifetime and weekly consumption. Higher affordability of alcohol was related to higher lifetime and weekly consumption and higher lifetime drunkenness. Family Affluence Scale was positively related to all three alcohol measures and Perceived Family Wealth was negatively related to lifetime drunkenness, with these associations increasing across survey years. The total alcohol policy index buffered the associations of Family Affluence Scale and Perceived Family Wealth with adolescent drinking outcomes. Conclusion A combination of alcohol control policies is more effective in reducing adolescent drinking outcomes than single policy measures. Reducing the affordability of alcohol stood out as the most successful single measure. Socioeconomic inequalities (i.e. higher alcohol consumption and drunkenness in adolescents with higher family affluence and higher drunkenness in adolescents perceiving their families to be poor) have persisted and even increased across survey years. A combined alcohol control policy can help in tackling them.

Integrating developmental aspects in current thinking about personality pathology.

The current review outlines some recent highlights from the developmental literature on personality pathology with regard to its conceptualization, development, assessment and clinical utility. Notable parallels with adult evidence are described, but also unique and age-specific issues are discussed. Finally, suggestions for future research that may stimulate a life-span and integrative perspective on personality pathology from childhood onwards are proposed.

Nonlinear superchiral meta-surfaces: tuning chirality and disentangling non-reciprocity at the nanoscale.

Circularly polarized light is incident on a nanostructured chiral meta-surface. In the nanostructured unit cells whose chirality matches that of light, superchiral light is forming and strong optical second harmonic generation can be observed.

Social capital and social inequality in adolescents' health in 601 Flemish communities: a multilevel analysis.

Although it is widely acknowledged that community social capital plays an important role in young people's health, there is limited evidence on the effect of community social capital on the social gradient in child and adolescent health. Using data from the 2005-2006 Flemish (Belgium) Health Behavior among School-aged Children survey (601 communities, n = 10,915), this study investigated whether community social capital is an independent determinant of adolescents' perceived health and well-being after taking account of individual compositional characteristics (e.g. the gender composition within a certain community). Multilevel statistical procedures were used to estimate neighborhood effects while controlling for individual level effects. Results show that individual level factors (such as family affluence and individual social capital) are positively related to perceived health and well-being and that community level social capital predicted health better than individual social capital. A significant complex interaction effect was found, such that the social gradient in perceived health and well-being (i.e. the slope of family affluence on health) was flattened in communities with a high level of community social capital. Furthermore it seems that socioeconomic status differences in perceived health and well-being substantially narrow in communities where a certain (average) level of community social capital is present. This should mean that individuals living in communities with a low level of community social capital especially benefit from an increase in community social capital. The paper substantiates the need to connect individual health to their meso socioeconomic context and this being intrinsically within a multilevel framework.

Individual and contextual influences of workplace social capital on cardiovascular health.

Social capital is commonly defined as features of social relationships, such as levels of interpersonal trust and norms of reciprocity and mutual aid, that facilitate collective action for mutual benefit. An extended research tradition exists around the contextual effects of social capital at the level of geographical areas such as neighborhoods, but more recently workplace social capital has received growing attention in literature. An overview of the different theoretical approaches and empirical findings of the concept of workplace social capital will be presented. Studies have shown associations between workplace social capital and indicators of mental and physical health, but very few research has focused on the relation with cardiovascular disease. An integrated theoretical model of reciprocity as key aspect of social capital was developed that distinguishes both emotional and instrumental dimensions of reciprocity among coworkers and supervisors at the individual and workplace level. This model has been empirically tested using data from the BELSTRESS study including more than 24.000 middle-aged men and women at work in 32 different workplaces. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires and bio-clinical examinations. Results will be presented on the impact of workplace social capital on behavioral and clinical cardiovascular risk factors.

Hotspot decorations map plasmonic patterns with the resolution of scanning probe techniques.

In high definition mapping of the plasmonic patterns on the surfaces of nanostructures, the diffraction limit of light remains an important obstacle. Here we demonstrate that this diffraction limit can be completely circumvented. We show that upon illuminating nanostructures made of nickel and palladium, the resulting surface-plasmon pattern is imprinted on the structures themselves; the hotspots (regions of local field enhancement) are decorated with overgrowths, allowing for their subsequent imaging with scanning-probe techniques. The resulting resolution of plasmon pattern imaging is correspondingly improved.

Linearly polarized second harmonic generation microscopy reveals chirality.

In optics, chirality is typically associated with circularly polarized light. Here we present a novel way to detect the handedness of chiral materials with linearly polarized light. We performed Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) microscopy on G-shaped planar chiral nanostructures made of gold. The SHG response originates in distinctive hotspots, whose arrangement is dependent of the handedness. These results uncover new directions for studying chirality in artificial materials.

Plasmonic ratchet wheels: switching circular dichroism by arranging chiral nanostructures.

We demonstrate circular dichroism (CD) in the second harmonic generation (SHG) signal from chiral assemblies of G-shaped nanostructures made of gold. The arrangement of the G shapes is crucial since upon reordering them the SHG-CD effect disappears. Microscopy reveals SHG "hotspots" assemblies, which originate in enantiomerically sensitive plasmon modes, having the novel property of exhibiting a chiral geometry themselves in relation with the handedness of the material. These results open new frontiers in studying chirality.

[Prevalence of intraocular hypertension and glaucoma in a nonselected French population]. / Prévalence de l'hypertonie oculaire et du glaucome dans une population française non sélectionnée.

AIMS: To measure intraocular pressure (IOP) in a large human sample and to assess the prevalence of glaucoma with elevated IOP and ocular hypertension (OHT) in this population. METHODS: We measured IOP in 2,074 subjects (men: women: 1,384: 690). If the IOP was higher than 20 mmHg, a photograph of the optic disc was taken and the visual field was examined. The optic nerve head and the visual field were evaluated in 395 individuals. RESULTS: In men aged 18-39 years, mean IOP was 15.5+/-3.1 mmHg and 16.4+/-3.5 mmHg after 60 years of age. In women, IOP reached 14.5+/-3.3 and 15.9+/-3.1 mmHg, respectively. IOP greater than 21 mmHg was found in 10.1% of males and 6.4% of females. The prevalence of OHT increased with age: from 5.3% to 15.5% in men and from 3% to 7.5% in women for the same age ranges. A diagnosis of glaucoma with elevated IOP was made in 2.2% of males and 3.0% of females. The prevalence of glaucoma increased with age from 0.8% to 5.7% in men and from 0.6% to 4.7% in women under 40 years and over 60 years of age, respectively. DISCUSSION: This study confirms the increase in IOP with age and the role of aging in the prevalence of OHT and glaucoma with elevated IOP. CONCLUSION: This transversal study shows the feasibility of intraocular hypertension and glaucoma screening and prevalence assessment in a nonselected large population in France.

Linking floc structure and settling properties to activated sludge population dynamics in an SBR.

Over a period of 227 days properties of activated sludge grown in an sequencing batch reactor (SBR) operated under stable conditions were analyzed. Settling properties (sludge volume index (SVI)) of the activated sludge were compared with on-line measurements of floc size and size distribution obtained by using a laser light scattering technique (Malvern Mastersizer/S, Malvern, UK), and with measurements of microbial community dynamics analyzed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) patterns of 16S rRNA genes. In addition, microscopical observations were used to confirm the results. Three distinct stages in the SBR evolution were observed. In the first stage the structural floc properties showed predominant presence of floc-forming bacteria in the activated sludge. A good correlation between floc size, properties and microbial community evolution was observed. The second stage showed a good balance between floc-forming and filamentous bacteria, with good settling properties and a highly dynamic community in the SBR. In the third stage, an increase in the filamentous bacteria, which became predominant in the system was observed. Again, a good correlation between settling properties and floc size distribution was obtained and a new dominant species was observed in the DGGE patterns, which can be assumed to be a filamentous organism.

Modelling the activated sludge flocculation process combining laser light diffraction particle sizing and population balance modelling (PBM).

A technique based on laser light diffraction is shown to be successful in collecting on-line experimental data. Time series of floc size distributions (FSD) under different shear rates (G) and calcium additions were collected. The steady state mass mean diameter decreased with increasing shear rate G and increased when calcium additions exceeded 8 mg/l. A so-called population balance model (PBM) was used to describe the experimental data. This kind of model describes both aggregation and breakage through birth and death terms. A discretised PBM was used since analytical solutions of the integro-partial differential equations are non-existing. Despite the complexity of the model, only 2 parameters need to be estimated; the aggregation rate and the breakage rate. The model seems, however, to lack flexibility. Also, the description of the floc size distribution (FSD) in time is not accurate.

An overview of the posters presented at Watermatex 2000. I. New models/integrated urban wastewater systems/time series analysis.

This paper presents an overview of the posters presented in the sessions 1, 6 and 9 of the Watermatex 2000 conference. The first session focused on the development of new models in different areas of environmental technology, e.g. wastewater, ground pollution, sewers, etc. The sixth session dealt with integrated urban wastewater systems. Session 9 focused on the application of neural network modeling and principal component analysis in time series analysis. Rewarded posters are mentioned and selected for full paper publication in this issue of Wat. Sci. Tech.

Imaging of gallbladder and biliary tract before laparoscopic cholecystectomy: comparison of intravenous cholangiography and the combined use of HASTE and single-shot RARE MR imaging.

To compare intravenous cholangiography (i.v.c.) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as preoperative imaging techniques in patients scheduled for laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Twenty patients underwent i.v.c. and MRI, 40 axial 'localizer' images were first obtained with a half-Fourier single-shot turbo spin echo (HASTE) sequence. Next, an extremely high T2-weighted rapid acquisition relaxation enhancement (RARE) acquisition (TE = 1100 msec) was used for MR cholangiography. All images obtained with i.v.c. and MRI were independently analyzed by two observers. The relative visibility of the (normal or abnormal) gallbladder (GB), cystic duct (CD), and bile ducts (BD) on both types of images was scored as follows: 1 = MRI better than i.v.c.; 2 = no difference; 3 = i.v.c. better than MRI. We observed 3 anatomic variants: 1 of the cystic duct and 2 of the intrahepatic bile ducts; 15 patients had gallstones; one had cholecystitis. Magnetic resonance images were considered more informative than i.v.c.-images for visualization of GB in 11 patients (55%), for CD in 9 patients (45%), and in 8 patients (40%) for visualization of the CBD. Intravenous cholangiography outperformed MRI in the evaluation of the CBD and CD in one patient (5%). The combined use of half-Fourier single-shot RARE and high T2-weighted RARE MR imaging is a valuable alternative to i.v.c. in the preoperative evaluation of gallbladder and biliary tract.

Visual field behavior after intra-ocular surgery in glaucoma patients with advanced defects.

Fifty advanced glaucoma patients with central visual field islands were evaluated before and after intra-ocular surgery with respect to visual acuity and visual field behavior. Thirteen patients underwent a cataract extraction, and 37 a filtering procedure. Visual acuity generally improved to a certain extent after lens extraction, and deteriorated after filtering surgery. For both groups the visual field island became somewhat larger with respect to the surface area, but the foveal value was usually lower after the operation. There was no clear relationship between visual acuity and foveal values or the surface area of the central island. One patient suffered unexplained loss of central vision.

An epidemiological survey of virus warts of the hands among butchers.

The prevalence of virus warts of the hands among butchers has been determined in three industrial butcheries by examining 536 meat-workers at their places of work. A prevalance of 23-8% has been found, which is significantly higher than the 8-5% prevalance found in 965 control adult subjects examined in different firms where manipulation of food does not occur. Further, the prevalence of virus warts of the hands has been found significantly higher in the 199 workers of one butchery (32-1%) than in 199 control subjects (10-1%) strictly matched for age and sex, and belonging to the same industrial area. In butchers, warts of the dorsal aspects of the hands are statistically less frequent than in control subjects when three localizations are considered (dorsal, palmar, dorsal plus palmar). No significant difference is observed when single localizations (dorsal or palmar) are considered. A definite explanation of the high prevalence of virus warts of the hands among butchers has not been found so far; some hypotheses are discussed in the light of the presnt study.