Geochemical aspects and contamination evaluation of major and trace elements in the sediments of Kallada river, southern Western Ghats, India

The metal concentrations within the sediments of Kallada River Basin (KRB) draining the south-western flanks of Western Ghats in Kerala, India were examined using pollution indices and statistical analysis in order to inspect the level of contamination. This study includes a systematic analysis of sediment contamination by heavy metals and major oxides of the river Kallada draining the south-western flanks of Western Ghats in Kerala, India during pre-monsoon (May 2019), monsoon (September 2019) and post-monsoon (February 2020) seasons. Sediment samples were taken from 20 locations and the major investigations carried out in the sediment samples include geochemical analysis for the determination of major oxides and minor (trace) elements by using X-ray Fluorescence spectrometer (XRF) and textural analysis for the classification of sediment samples into different categories. To understand the pollution loads in the sediments of the area under study, the heavy metal and major element contamination of the samples were assessed based on crustal enrichment factor (EFc), geo accumulation index (Igeo), contamination factor (CF), degree of contamination (Cdeg) and pollution load index (PLI). From the analysis, it is seen that the coastal sediments of KRB were polluted mainly by Zirconium which exhibits high values in the pre-monsoon season. Among the major elements, Titanium is the only one which manifests slightly higher values in the pre-monsoon period. Based on the textural analysis, it is observed that these sediments predominantly come under sandy loam and loamy silt classifications during the three seasons of study. The concentrations of heavy metals and major ions in the surface sediments of Kallada river were studied to determine the extent of anthropogenic inputs in this tropical river system.

Remote Digital Psychiatry for Mobile Mental Health Assessment and Therapy: MindLogger Platform Development Study

Background

Universal access to assessment and treatment of mental health and learning disorders remains a significant and unmet need. There are many people without access to care because of economic, geographic, and cultural barriers, as well as the limited availability of clinical experts who could help advance our understanding and treatment of mental health.

Objective

This study aims to create an open, configurable software platform to build clinical measures, mobile assessments, tasks, and interventions without programming expertise. Specifically, our primary requirements include an administrator interface for creating and scheduling recurring and customized questionnaires where end users receive and respond to scheduled notifications via an iOS or Android app on a mobile device. Such a platform would help relieve overwhelmed health systems and empower remote and disadvantaged subgroups in need of accurate and effective information, assessment, and care. This platform has the potential to advance scientific research by supporting the collection of data with instruments tailored to specific scientific questions from large, distributed, and diverse populations.

Methods

We searched for products that satisfy these requirements. We designed and developed a new software platform called MindLogger, which exceeds the requirements. To demonstrate the platform’s configurability, we built multiple applets (collections of activities) within the MindLogger mobile app and deployed several of them, including a comprehensive set of assessments underway in a large-scale, longitudinal mental health study.

Results

Of the hundreds of products we researched, we found 10 that met our primary requirements with 4 that support end-to-end encryption, 2 that enable restricted access to individual users’ data, 1 that provides open-source software, and none that satisfy all three. We compared features related to information presentation and data capture capabilities; privacy and security; and access to the product, code, and data. We successfully built MindLogger mobile and web applications, as well as web browser–based tools for building and editing new applets and for administering them to end users. MindLogger has end-to-end encryption, enables restricted access, is open source, and supports a variety of data collection features. One applet is currently collecting data from children and adolescents in our mental health study, and other applets are in different stages of testing and deployment for use in clinical and research settings.

Conclusions

We demonstrated the flexibility and applicability of the MindLogger platform through its deployment in a large-scale, longitudinal, mobile mental health study and by building a variety of other mental health–related applets. With this release, we encourage a broad range of users to apply the MindLogger platform to create and test applets to advance health care and scientific research. We hope that increasing the availability of applets designed to assess and administer interventions will facilitate access to health care in the general population.

Thermal sensors improve wrist-worn position tracking

Wearable devices provide a means of tracking hand position in relation to the head, but have mostly relied on wrist-worn inertial measurement unit sensors and proximity sensors, which are inadequate for identifying specific locations. This limits their utility for accurate and precise monitoring of behaviors or providing feedback to guide behaviors. A potential clinical application is monitoring body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs), recurrent, injurious behaviors directed toward the body, such as nail biting and hair pulling, which are often misdiagnosed and undertreated. Here, we demonstrate that including thermal sensors achieves higher accuracy in position tracking when compared against inertial measurement unit and proximity sensor data alone. Our Tingle device distinguished between behaviors from six locations on the head across 39 adult participants, with high AUROC values (best was back of the head: median (1.0), median absolute deviation (0.0); worst was on the cheek: median (0.93), median absolute deviation (0.09)). This study presents preliminary evidence of the advantage of including thermal sensors for position tracking and the Tingle wearable device’s potential use in a wide variety of settings, including BFRB diagnosis and management.

Assessment of the impact of shared brain imaging data on the scientific literature

Data sharing is increasingly recommended as a means of accelerating science by facilitating collaboration, transparency, and reproducibility. While few oppose data sharing philosophically, a range of barriers deter most researchers from implementing it in practice. To justify the significant effort required for sharing data, funding agencies, institutions, and investigators need clear evidence of benefit. Here, using the International Neuroimaging Data-sharing Initiative, we present a case study that provides direct evidence of the impact of open sharing on brain imaging data use and resulting peer-reviewed publications. We demonstrate that openly shared data can increase the scale of scientific studies conducted by data contributors, and can recruit scientists from a broader range of disciplines. These findings dispel the myth that scientific findings using shared data cannot be published in high-impact journals, suggest the transformative power of data sharing for accelerating science, and underscore the need for implementing data sharing universally.

Nail-Patella Syndrome: A Rare Cause of Nephrotic Syndrome in Pregnancy

Nail–Patella syndrome (NPS) is an inherited disease with characteristic nail, limb, and renal anomalies. While almost all patients manifest classical skeletal and nail abnormalities, renal involvement is seen in only 40% of patients. Asymptomatic proteinuria is the most common renal presentation. Although a substantial number of patients can progress to nephrotic range proteinuria, development of end-stage kidney disease is rare. Pathological abnormalities are appreciable only by electron microscopy. Our patient who had not been diagnosed with NPS previously presented with new-onset proteinuria during the second trimester of her first pregnancy. The characteristic physical and radiological features confirmed the diagnosis of NPS. Her clinical course was complicated by nephrotic syndrome with fetal loss at 22 weeks and postpartum renal vein thrombosis. Nephrotic state improved after termination of pregnancy. She was managed with angiotensin receptor blocker and anticoagulation. At the end of 2 years of follow-up, she has normal glomerular filtration rate with minimal proteinuria.

Is environmental degradation the root cause for communicable diseases in kerala? A case study

In Kerala (India), environmental degradation, consequent to urbanization, industrialization and skewed agricultural practices, is on the rise. The urban area has acute land and water pollution due to these activities. In Thiruvananthapuram district, especially in certain pockets of squalor and poor environmental quality, communicable diseases are being reported frequently. The present study aims to highlight the causes of environmental degradation which are directly related to the health issues of Thiruvananthapuram district. Based on this study some recommendations are also made for enhancing the environmental quality of the region.

Failure-to-thrive, maltreatment and the behavior and development of 6-year-old children from low-income, urban families: a cumulative risk model

OBJECTIVE

A cumulative risk model was used to examine the relationship among failure-to-thrive (FTT), maltreatment, and four aspects of children's development: cognitive performance (standardized testing), adaptive functioning at school, and classroom behavior (teacher report), and behavior at home (maternal report).

METHOD

The sample included 193 6-year-old children and their families, recruited from pediatric clinics serving inner-city, low-income, primarily African-American families, who were part of a longitudinal investigation of child development and maltreatment. Four risk groups were formed based on their growth and maltreatment history: neither FTT nor Maltreatment, FTT Only, Maltreatment Only, and both FTT and Maltreatment. FTT was defined as a deceleration in weight gain (weight-for-age below the 5th percentile) prior to 25 months of age among children born at term with birth weight appropriate for gestational age. Maltreatment was defined as having at least one report to CPS for neglect, physical abuse and/or sexual abuse.

RESULTS

Risk status was negatively associated with each of the four developmental outcomes. Children with a history of both FTT and maltreatment had more behavior problems and worse cognitive performance and school functioning than children with neither risk factor. Children with only one risk factor (either FTT or maltreatment) achieved intermediate scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings support a cumulative risk model as being more detrimental to children's development than the presence of a single risk factor alone, consistent with theories linking the accumulation of environmental risks to negative consequences. These results underscore the importance of interventions to prevent both FTT and maltreatment during children's early years.

Predicting longitudinal growth curves of height and weight using ecological factors for children with and without early growth deficiency

Growth curve models were used to examine the effect of genetic and ecological factors on changes in height and weight of 225 children from low income, urban families who were assessed up to eight times in the first 6 y of life. Children with early growth deficiency [failure to thrive (FTT)] (n = 127) and a community sample of children without growth deficiency (n = 98) were examined to evaluate how genetic, child and family characteristics influenced growth. Children of taller and heavier parents, who were recruited at younger ages and did not have a history of growth deficiency, had accelerated growth from recruitment through age 6 y. In addition, increases in height were associated with better health, less difficult temperament, nurturant mothers and female gender; increases in weight were associated with better health. Children with a history of growth deficiency demonstrated slower rates of growth than children in the community group without a history of growth deficiency. In the community group, changes in children's height and weight were related to maternal perceptions of health and temperament and maternal nurturance during feeding, whereas in the FTT group, maternal perceptions and behavior were not in synchrony with children's growth. These findings suggest that, in addition to genetic factors, growth is dependent on a nurturant and sensitive caregiving system. Interventions to promote growth should consider child and family characteristics, including maternal perceptions of children's health and temperament and maternal mealtime behavior.

Children in low-income, urban settings. Interventions to promote mental health and well-being

Urbanization provides unique political, cultural, economic, and educational opportunities for children and families. However, it may also have a negative impact on the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents, particularly when they are exposed to settings with high rates of crime, violence, delinquency, substance use, abuse, and poverty. Psychologists are well suited to intervene in problems associated with urbanization. However, most psychological services have been directed toward children who are experiencing problems, and there has been less focus on population-based or preemptive interventions that prevent problems before they occur. This review presents 11 recommendations for urban interventions that build on individual, family, and community strengths to promote the mental health and well-being of urban children and adolescents.

Children in low-income, urban settings. Interventions to promote mental health and well-being

Urbanization provides unique political, cultural, economic, and educational opportunities for children and families. However, it may also have a negative impact on the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents, particularly when they are exposed to settings with high rates of crime, violence, delinquency, substance use, abuse, and poverty. Psychologists are well suited to intervene in problems associated with urbanization. However, most psychological services have been directed toward children who are experiencing problems, and there has been less focus on population-based or preemptive interventions that prevent problems before they occur. This review presents 11 recommendations for urban interventions that build on individual, family, and community strengths to promote the mental health and well-being of urban children and adolescents.