The Relationship Between Scoliosis, Spinal Bone Density, and Truncal Muscle Strength in Familial Dysautonomia Patients

This combined retrospective and prospective study aimed to investigate the relationship between scoliosis, spinal bone mineral density (BMD), and truncal muscle strength in patients with familial dysautonomia (FD). A total of 79 FD patients (40 male, 39 female) aged 5-44 years were included. The severity of scoliosis, lumbar spine BMD (Z-score), and truncal muscle strength were assessed. Correlations were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient. Inverse correlations were observed between scoliosis severity and BMD (r = - 0.328, p = 0.001), as indicated by increasingly negative Z-score values with worsening osteoporosis. There were also inverse correlations between scoliosis and truncal muscle strength (r = - 0.595, p < 0.001). The correlation between scoliosis and age was notable up to 22 years (r = 0.421, p = 0.01), but not in the older age group (22-44 years). Our study identified inverse correlations between osteoporosis and scoliosis, as well as between scoliosis and truncal muscle strength, in FD patients. These findings suggest that there may be a relationship between bone density, muscle strength, and the severity of spinal curvature in this population. While our results highlight the potential importance of early diagnosis and management of osteoporosis, and possibly the benefits of physical therapy to strengthen truncal muscles, further research is needed to determine the direct impact of these interventions on preventing the progression of scoliosis and its associated complications in FD patients. A long-term longitudinal study could provide more insights into these relationships and inform treatment strategies for FD patients.

TECRA Listeria Visual Immunoassay (TLVIA) for Detection of Listeria in Foods: Collaborative Study

A collaborative study involving 26 laboratories and 5 food types was performed to compare the TECRA Listeria Visual Immunoassay (TLVIA) with standard culture methods. Three foods (lettuce, ice cream, and fish fillets), under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and 2 foods (cooked chicken and cooked ground turkey), under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, were used to determine the effectiveness of the TLVIA. Of the 900 samples tested, 300 were inoculated with low levels (1-5 cells/25 g) of Listeria spp. and 300 were inoculated with high levels of Listeria spp. (10-50 cells/25 g). Method agreement between the conventional culture methods and TLVIA (visual) was 94.7%. Method agreement between the conventional culture methods and TLVIA (reader) was 93.6%. The colorimetric polyclonal enzyme immunoassay (TLVIA) for detection of Listeria in foods has been adopted first action by AOAC INTERNATIONAL.

Evaluation of the BAX® System for Detection of Salmonella in Selected Foods: Collaborative Study

A multilaboratory study was conducted to compare the automated BAX® System to the standard cultural methods for detection of Salmonella in selected foods. Five food types—frankfurters, raw ground beef, mozzarella cheese, raw frozen tilapia fish, and orange juice—at 3 inoculation levels, were analyzed by each method. A sixth food type, raw ground chicken, was tested using 3 naturally contaminated lots. A total of 16 laboratories representing government and industry participated. In this study, 1386 samples were analyzed, of which 1188 were paired samples and 198 were unpaired samples. Of the 1188 paired samples, 461 were positive by both methods and 404 were negative by both methods. Thirty-seven samples were positive by the BAX System but negative by the standard reference method, and 11 samples were positive by standard cultural method and negative by the BAX System. Of the 198 unpaired samples, 106 were positive by the BAX System and 60 were positive by the standard cultural method. A Chi square analysis of each of the 6 food types, at the 3 inoculation levels tested, was performed. For all foods, the BAX System demonstrated results comparable to those of the standard reference methods based on the Chi square results.

Salmonella in Foods: New Enrichment Procedure for TECRA Salmonella Visual Immunoassay Using a Single RV(R10) Only, TT Only, or Dual RV(R10) and TT Selective Enrichment Broths (AOAC Official Method 998.09): Collaborative Study

A collaborative study was conducted to compare a new enrichment procedure for the TECRA® Salmonella Visual Immunoassay (TSVIA) with the reference method given in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Bacteriological Analytical Manual (7th Ed.). Three food types (milk powder, pepper, and soy flour) were analyzed in Australia and 3 food types (milk chocolate, dried egg, and raw turkey) were analyzed in the United States. Thirty-eight collaborators participated in the study. The TECRA method was evaluated using both Rappaport-Vassiliadis R10 (RV(R10)) and tetrathionate (TT) broths for selective enrichment. M broth cultures arising from each of the 2 selective enrichment broths were tested in the TSVIA using 2 individual wells, one for each selective broth, and a single well to test the pooled selective enrichment broths. The results for the pooled enrichment broths were reported elsewhere. This study presents the results for the use of single enrichment broths, i.e., RV(R10) only or TT only, with the TSVIA. No significant differences (p &gt; 0.05) were observed for the pairwise comparison of the proportion of positive samples for either RV(R10) or TT used as a single enrichment broth for the TSVIA with that for the reference method.

Modification of Enrichment Protocols for TECRA Listeria Visual Immunoassay Method 995.22: Collaborative Study

A collaborative study was conducted to validate new enrichment methods for the TECRA Listeria Visual Immunoassay (TLVIA). These new methods incorporate a newly formulated medium, TECRA Listeria Enrichment Broth, which does not contain the highly toxic antifungal agent, cycloheximide. The new procedures will provide an alternative to the enrichment procedures described in AOAC Method 995.22. Three food types (raw ground beef, lettuce, and ice cream) were analyzed in the United States, and 2 food types (cooked turkey and cooked fish fillets) were analyzed in Australasia. Thirty collaborators participated in the study, 16 in Australasia and 14 in the United States. With the exception of one batch of ground beef, comparison of the proportion of positive test portions (p ≥ 0.05) showed no significant difference between the TLVIA and the reference method for the 5 foods at 3 inoculation levels. For the one batch of naturally contaminated raw ground beef, the TLVIA gave significantly more confirmed positive results than the reference method.

TECRA® Unique™ Test for Rapid Detection of Salmonella in Food: Collaborative Study

The TECRA® Unique™ Salmonella test uses the principle of immunoenrichment to allow rapid detection of Salmonellae in food. A collaborative study was conducted to compare the TECRA Salmonella Unique test with the reference culture method given in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Bacteriological Analytical Manual. Three food types (milk powder, pepper, and soy flour) were analyzed in Australia and 2 food types (milk chocolate and dried egg) were analyzed in the United States. Forty-one collaborators participated in the study. For each of the 5 foods at each of the 3 levels, a comparison showed no significant differences (p ≥ 0.05) in the proportion of positive test samples for Unique and that for the reference method using the Chi-square test for independence with continuity correction.

Correlates of burnout among professionals working with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities

BACKGROUND

Although burnout has been recognised as an important stress-related problem among staff working with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), literature on the subject is limited yet emerging. The aim of this study is twofold: (1) to evaluate the level of burnout within different professions working with IDD; (2) to examine the association between socio-demographic, professional and organisational characteristics and burnout.

METHOD

One hundred ninety-nine professionals working with people with IDD were enrolled in the study (66% response rate). Participants were recruited from several facilities that provide care for people with IDD of all ages, in the Jerusalem area and in other cities in central Israel. The anonymous questionnaires included valid and reliable measures of burnout, socio-demographic variables, professional variables and organisational variables.

RESULTS

Participants' mean age was 38.3 years, and most were women. There were no significant differences in burnout levels among the different professionals. Role ambiguity, perceived overload, care-recipient group and job involvement were significant predictors of burnout. The model explained a high percentage (46.8%) of the observed variance.

CONCLUSIONS

Most of these predictors are organisational measures. These findings demonstrate that organisational variables are more significantly associated with burnout of staff working with people with IDD than the socio-demographic factors or professional characteristics. Identifying and better understanding the specific factors associated with burnout among professionals working with IDD could facilitate unique intervention programs to reduce burnout levels in staff.

Improving participation outcomes and interventions in neurodisability: co-designing future research

There is an urgent, agreed need to improve participation outcomes and interventions for children and young people with neurodisability. We worked together with service users and providers to design research into participation outcomes and interventions in neurodisability. We built on existing evidence about participation outcomes and interventions and the WHO International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. We: (1) specified seven participation outcome categories for measurement; (2) prioritized these for improvement: self-care, friends and social, and physical activity ranked the highest; (3) identified 11 potential intervention categories for targeting the top priority, self-care, through eight hypothesized change mechanisms and agreed for the interventions to be delivered as a 'Menu of Interventions' for personalized self-care support; and (4) designed a before-and-after mixed methods feasibility study to evaluate the Menu with children and young people (0-12 years) and their parents and therapists.

Coordinate expansion of murine hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cell compartments by SHIPi

Promoting the expansion of adult stem cell populations offers the potential to ameliorate radiation or chemotherapy-induced bone marrow failure and allows for expedited recovery for patients undergoing these therapies. Previous genetic studies suggested a pivotal role for SH2 domain-containing inositol-5-phosphatase 1 (SHIP1) in limiting the size of the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) compartment. The aim of this study was to determine whether our recent development of small molecule SHIP1 inhibitors offers the potential for pharmacological expansion of the HSC compartment in vivo. We show here that treatment of mice with aminosteroid inhibitors of SHIP1 (SHIPi) more than doubles the size of the adult mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) compartment while simultaneously expanding the HSC pool sixfold. Consistent with its ability to target SHIP1 function in vivo, SHIPi also significantly increases plasma granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) levels, a growth factor that supports proliferation of HSC. Here, we show that SHIPi-induced G-CSF production mediates HSC and MSC expansion, as in vivo neutralization of G-CSF abrogates the SHIPi-induced expansion of both the HSC and MSC compartments. Due to its expansionary effect on adult stem cell compartments, SHIPi represents a potential novel strategy to improve declining stem cell function in both therapy induced and genetically derived bone marrow failure syndromes.