A 10 year (2011-2021) systematic review of teen dating violence prevention programs.

BACKGROUND: Teen dating violence (TDV) refers to the physical, sexual and/or psychological violence that takes place within a romantic relationship amongst teenagers. TDV has devastating consequences for the victims, particularly for young women, who also experience increased risk of relationship violence in their adulthood. In view of this, the implementation of effective TDV prevention programs has the potential to tackle both TDV and contribute to eradicate gender-based violence. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review examining the effectiveness of the TDV programs published during the last decade (2011-2021). METHODS: From the 1143 studies identified through the database searches, 28 met the inclusion criteria: 10-18 years old; experimental, or quasi-experimental with control group; examining knowledge, attitudes and/or TDV behavior indicators; 2011-2021. RESULTS: Although there were still many programs focused on changing knowledge and attitudes only, we found an increase in the number of studies examining TDV behavioral indicators. A modest improvement in the quality of the programs in terms of their ability to modify the desired TDV behaviors was detected, yet resistance to change was still observed. CONCLUSIONS: Effective programs met many of the requirements specified by the gender transformative programme literature (time-intensive, multilevel, multicomponent skill development approaches). Nonetheless, we identified some brief, creative and effective interventions worth implementing given their cost-efficacy.

Molecular Characterization of Imported and Autochthonous Dengue in Northeastern Spain.

Dengue is the most significant arbovirus worldwide and a public health threat to non-endemic areas in which Aedes vectors are present. Autochthonous dengue transmission has been reported in several European countries in the last decade. Infected travelers from endemic regions arriving to areas colonized by Aedes albopictus in Europe need to be monitored in surveillance and control programs. We aimed to perform molecular characterization of RT-PCR-positive dengue cases detected in Catalonia, northeastern Spain, from 2013 to 2018. The basic demographic information and the geographical regions of importation were also analyzed. One-hundred four dengue cases were studied (103 imported infections and the first autochthonous case in our region). The dengue virus strains detected were serotyped and genotyped using molecular methods, and phylogenetic analyses were conducted. All four dengue serotypes were detected in travelers, including up to 10 different genotypes, reflecting the global circulation of dengue in endemic areas. The primary travel-related case of the 2018 autochthonous transmission was not identified, but the molecular analysis revealed dengue serotype 1, genotype I of Asian origin. Our results highlight the diversity of imported dengue virus strains and the role of molecular epidemiology in supporting arbovirus surveillance programs.

Evaluation of a novel microfluidic immuno-magnetic agglutination assay method for detection of dengue virus NS1 antigen.

BACKGROUND: Dengue virus (DENV) is the most important arbovirus worldwide, causing infections in endemic countries and returning travellers from these areas. Rapid diagnostic tests are needed to improve patient management and monitor local transmission. The detection of DENV non-structural protein 1 (NS1) is a useful tool for the diagnosis, but the currently available methods can be time consuming or lack sensitivity. The objective of our study was to evaluate a new rapid and semi-quantitative microfluidic DENV NS1 immuno-magnetic agglutination assay based on aggregation of magnetic nanoparticles detected by an electronic reader (Virotrack Dengue Acute and Blubox, Blusense diagnostics, Copenhagen, Denmark). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A panel of 135 serum samples from travelers returning from dengue endemic countries was analyzed (74 DENV positive samples including the four DENV serotypes, 26 Zika virus positive samples, 25 chikungunya virus positive samples, 5 malaria positive samples and 5 negative samples). Samples were tested by three different antigen detection methods: SD Dengue NS1 Ag ELISA, SD BIOLINE Dengue Duo and ViroTrack Dengue Acute. The sensitivity observed for SD Dengue NS1 Ag ELISA, ViroTrack Dengue Acute and SD BIOLINE Dengue Duo was 97.2%, 91.1% and 68.1%, respectively. All methods showed high specificity (98.4% for ViroTrack Dengue Acute and 100% for both SD Dengue NS1 Ag ELISA and SD BIOLINE Dengue Duo). SD Dengue NS1 Ag ELISA and ViroTrack Dengue Acute only failed to detect samples positive for DENV-2. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: ViroTrack Dengue Acute is a sensitive and specific assay for DENV NS1 detection. It provides faster results than the ELISA method and a better performance than the rapid immunochromatographic tests. ViroTrack Dengue Acute could represent a valuable tool for rapid diagnosis of DENV infections in returning travellers from endemic countries.

Genetic origin of a large family with a novel PSEN1 mutation (Ile416Thr).

INTRODUCTION: A small percentage of Alzheimer's disease (AD) cases are caused by genetic mutations with autosomal dominant inheritance. We report a family with a novel variant in PSEN1. METHODS: We performed clinical and genetic evaluation of 93 related individuals from a Colombian admixed population. 31 individuals had whole-genome sequencing. RESULTS: Genetic analysis revealed a missense variant in PSEN1 (NM_000021.3: c.1247T>C p.Ile416Thr), which originated on an African haplotype and segregated with AD logarithm of the odds score of 6. Their clinical phenotype is similar to sporadic AD except for earlier age at onset: the mean age at onset for mild cognitive impairment was 47.6 years (standard deviation 5.83) and for dementia 51.6 years (standard deviation 5.03). DISCUSSION: Ile416Thr is a novel pathogenic variant that causes AD in the sixth decade of life. The history of the region that included slave importation and admixtures within a confined geographic locale represents a "mini-population bottleneck" and subsequent emergence of a rare dominant mutation.