Nightmare frequency and nightmare distress during the COVID-19 pandemic

STUDY OBJECTIVES

The current study investigated nightmare frequency and distress during the pandemic and associated factors.

METHODS

Participants (n = 1,718) completed a survey, 747 of which were youth. The MADRE dream questionnaire was used to collect self-reported data on nightmare frequency and distress. In addition, personality traits, current stressors, and COVID-related anxiety were also measured. An ordinal regression model was used for statistical analysis, and P < .05 was considered significant.

RESULTS

The findings from this study suggest (1) COVID-related anxiety is associated with the frequency of nightmares and the severity of nightmare distress experienced by a person, and (2) findings support the continuity hypothesis, which suggests waking life experiences are related to nightmares and (3) increased COVID-related anxiety contributes independently to nightmare frequency. COVID-related anxiety appeared to be more prevalent within adults (P < .001, effect size = 0.18) compared to youth. Similar results were found for nightmare distress.

CONCLUSIONS

The risk of nightmares may have increased due to disruptions in mental health and sleep caused by the COVID-19 crisis. These findings may be important in clinician efforts to understand nightmares and the risk of problematic sleep during the pandemic.

CITATION

Remedios A, Marin-Dragu S, Routledge F, et al. Nightmare frequency and nightmare distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Clin Sleep Med. 2023;19(1):163-169.

A Mobile Sensing App to Monitor Youth Mental Health: Observational Pilot Study

Background

Internalizing disorders are the most common psychiatric problems observed among youth in Canada. Sadly, youth with internalizing disorders often avoid seeking clinical help and rarely receive adequate treatment. Current methods of assessing internalizing disorders usually rely on subjective symptom ratings, but internalizing symptoms are frequently underreported, which creates a barrier to the accurate assessment of these symptoms in youth. Therefore, novel assessment tools that use objective data need to be developed to meet the highest standards of reliability, feasibility, scalability, and affordability. Mobile sensing technologies, which unobtrusively record aspects of youth behaviors in their daily lives with the potential to make inferences about their mental health states, offer a possible method of addressing this assessment barrier.

Objective

This study aims to explore whether passively collected smartphone sensor data can be used to predict internalizing symptoms among youth in Canada.

Methods

In this study, the youth participants (N=122) completed self-report assessments of symptoms of anxiety, depression, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Next, the participants installed an app, which passively collected data about their mobility, screen time, sleep, and social interactions over 2 weeks. Then, we tested whether these passive sensor data could be used to predict internalizing symptoms among these youth participants.

Results

More severe depressive symptoms correlated with more time spent stationary (r=0.293; P=.003), less mobility (r=0.271; P=.006), higher light intensity during the night (r=0.227; P=.02), and fewer outgoing calls (r=−0.244; P=.03). In contrast, more severe anxiety symptoms correlated with less time spent stationary (r=−0.249; P=.01) and greater mobility (r=0.234; P=.02). In addition, youths with higher anxiety scores spent more time on the screen (r=0.203; P=.049). Finally, adding passively collected smartphone sensor data to the prediction models of internalizing symptoms significantly improved their fit.

Conclusions

Passively collected smartphone sensor data provide a useful way to monitor internalizing symptoms among youth. Although the results replicated findings from adult populations, to ensure clinical utility, they still need to be replicated in larger samples of youth. The work also highlights intervention opportunities via mobile technology to reduce the burden of internalizing symptoms early on.

Plasmonic gratings with nano-protrusions made by glancing angle deposition for single-molecule super-resolution imaging

Super-resolution imaging has been advantageous in studying biological and chemical systems, but the required equipment and platforms are expensive and unable to observe single-molecules at the high (μM) fluorophore concentrations required to study protein interaction and enzymatic activity. Here, a plasmonic platform was designed that utilized an inexpensively fabricated plasmonic grating in combination with a scalable glancing angle deposition (GLAD) technique using physical vapor deposition. The GLAD creates an abundance of plasmonic nano-protrusion probes that combine the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) from the periodic gratings with the localized SPR of these nano-protrusions. The resulting platform enables simultaneous imaging of a large area without point-by-point scanning or bulk averaging for the detection of single Cyanine-5 molecules in dye concentrations ranging from 50 pM to 10 μM using epifluorescence microscopy. Combining the near-field plasmonic nano-protrusion probes and super-resolution technique using localization microscopy, we demonstrate the ability to resolve grain sizes down to 65 nm. This plasmonic GLAD grating is a cost-effective super-resolution imaging substrate with potential applications in high-speed biomedical imaging over a wide range of fluorescent concentrations.

Extended point defects in crystalline materials: Ge and Si

B diffusion measurements are used to probe the basic nature of self-interstitial point defects in Ge. We find two distinct self-interstitial forms--a simple one with low entropy and a complex one with entropy ∼30  k at the migration saddle point. The latter dominates diffusion at high temperature. We propose that its structure is similar to that of an amorphous pocket--we name it a morph. Computational modeling suggests that morphs exist in both self-interstitial and vacancylike forms, and are crucial for diffusion and defect dynamics in Ge, Si, and probably many other crystalline solids.

N-acylaziridines as potential proinsecticides of carboxylic acids Part VI. Direct HPLC monitoring of the metabolism in insect tissues

To determine the reversible masking potential of carboxylic acids afforded by the N-acyl structure in a proinsecticide perspective, the hydrolysis of monosubstituted N-acylaziridines and unsubstituted N-acylpyrrolidine was studied by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) during in vitro assays conducted in the presence of insect tissues or of alpha-chymotrypsin. Chromatographic analysis of unextracted biological samples so-called "the direct injection approach" was simpler and more accurate than the "extraction approach" because it avoids problems associated with extraction. Thus, periodical injections of samples of biological insect tissues or of alpha-chymotrypsin incubated with N-acyl substrates were performed on packings allowing direct injection: a wide-pore column or a monolithic column. Moreover, to allow the simultaneous monitoring of the carboxylic acids and of the parent substrates, ion-pairing was used. In these conditions, it was shown that N-acylpyrrolidine is not hydrolyzed whatever the enzymatic conditions or the pH. On the other hand, the unmasking of the carboxylic acid is the preponderant mode of hydrolysis of N-acylaziridines in the presence of alpha-chymotrypsine and the exclusive one in the presence of locust fat-body, which establishes the convenience of this structure in our proinsecticide perspective. Due to the enzymatic character of the unmasking of the carboxylic acid during biological hydrolysis of N-acylaziridines, the research of possible chiral recognitions was undertaken. Thus, the enantiomeric composition of these substrates was analysed at the stage of their approximative half hydrolysis using a chiral alpha-AGP column. It appeared that locust fat-body hydrolyses preferentially the (R)-isomers of N-acylaziridines while the reverse is observed when alpha-chymotrypsine is used.

Delta(2)-oxazolines-1,3 and N-acylaziridines as potential proinsecticides of carboxylic acids. V. Direct thin-layer chromatography monitoring of the metabolism in locust tissues

Modern thin-layer chromatography (TLC) was used for the evaluation of delta2-oxazolines-1,3 I and N-acylaziridine VII structures, as potential proinsecticides of carboxylic acids III. Thus the unmasking2 of the active principles III from delta2-oxazolines-1,3 Ia-c and N-acylaziridine VIIc was monitored by spotting aliquots directly onto RP-18 TLC plates, without any sample pretreatment during in vitro assays performed in concentrated locust tissues. To achieve a good separation of carboxylate IIIa from endogenous components of the tissues, a short preliminary development with methanol or ion-pairing was necessary. From UV-TLC chromatograms (densitograms) it appeared that in a phosphate buffer at pH 7.4, the oxazoline Ia with a C2 substituent devoid of alpha-ramification or alpha,beta-insaturation hydrolysed slowly into the corresponding beta-hydroxylamide VIa and intermediate aminoester Va. Significantly, locust mesenteron (or fat body) efficiently triggered the unmasking of IIIa, a transformation which corresponds to the expected proinsecticide behavior of Ia. Conducting TLC monitoring in the same locust tissues also revealed that the oxazolines Ib and Ic with an alpha-ramification and an alpha,beta-insaturation, respectively, cannot be considered as proinsecticides of the corresponding carboxylic acids IIIb and IIIc. In contrast, the N-acylaziridine VIIc appeared as a convenient proinsecticide structure for masking the carboxylic acid IIIc.

Determination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and PBDD/Fs during the recycling of high impact polystyrene containing decabromodiphenyl ether and antimony oxide

A high impact polystyrene (HIPS) plastic, flame retarded with decabromodiphenyl ether (DecaBDE) and antimony trioxide (Sb2O3) has been repeatedly processed and the amount of debromination of the flame retardant and possible formation of PBDD/F was monitored. No indications of debromination were found. The reprocessed (recycled) plastic was found to comply with the German Chemicals Banning Ordinance. The concentrations of relevant PBDD/F congeners were at least one order of magnitude below the regulated limit values for PBDD/F (1 ppb for the sum of four congeners, 5 ppb for the sum of all eight regulated congeners).

A pharmacokinetic and tolerability evaluation of two continuous subcutaneous infusion systems compared to an oral controlled-release morphine

The pharmacokinetic profiles, safety, and tolerability of continuous subcutaneous infusion with a novel drug deliver system (the MEDIPAD system) was compared to a standard infusion pump (the CADD-Micro) and to controlled-release tablets (MS Contin) for the administration of morphine sulfate. This was a single-center, open-label, three-treatment study conducted in 24 male and female healthy volunteers. The mean age was 40.6 yr (SD = +/- 12.27). A three treatment design was chosen to compare differences between modes of administration within each subject to minimize the impact of intersubject variability: Treatment A was a continuous 48-hr subcutaneous infusion of morphine sulfate (165.6 mg at a rate of 3. 45 mg/hr) with the MEDIPAD system attached to the chest, Treatment B was a series of four oral doses of morphine sulfate (120 mg each) at 12-hr intervals, and Treatment C was a continuous 48-hr subcutaneous infusion of morphine sulfate (163.2 mg at a rate of 3.40 mg/hr) with the CADD-Micro device attached to the chest. Subjects began treatment after eligibility was established and informed consent was obtained. The primary pharmacokinetic parameters (AUC, C(max)) for the two devices were similar; 90% confidence intervals showed that the MEDIPAD system was bioequivalent to the CADD-Micro in terms of both rate and extent of morphine absorption. The mean morphine plasma concentration versus time plot suggested that plasma concentrations rise more rapidly with the MEDIPAD device than with the CADD-Micro or oral administrations. The MEDIPAD system showed mild application and injection site reactions; there were no site reactions for the CADD-Micro or oral doses. As expected nausea, somnolence, and abdominal pain occurred more frequently in the oral treatment than the two infusion devices. These data suggest that the MEDIPAD system, which is currently undergoing clinical evaluation, is an acceptable alternative to the traditional oral treatment of morphine sulfate for delivery of analgesics as it allows rapid absorption of morphine; is small, easy to use, and disposable; and achieves plasma levels that are essentially equal to other standard infusion pumps.

Immunohistochemical localization of the murine transferrin receptor (TfR) on blood-tissue barriers using a novel anti-TfR monoclonal antibody

A novel monoclonal antibody (mAb), 8D3 (IgG2a), that specifically recognizes the murine transferrin receptor (TfR) was produced by immunizing a Lewis rat with a polyoma middle T oncogene-transformed endothelioma cell line. The 8D3 mAb was obtained by immunohistochemical screening for exclusive staining of vessels forming a blood-brain barrier (BBB), but not of other vessels. The anti-TfR mAb 8D3 recognizes the TfR also in FACS analysis and in western blots and should prove to be useful for affinity purification of the TfR. Whereas 8D3 brightly stains BBB-forming vessels in the central nervous system of mice, it does not stain the fenestrated capillaries within the choroid plexus and the circumventricular organs. In testis, where the blood-tissue barrier is located at the level of the Sertoli cells, the 8D3 mAb specifically stains Sertoli cells but not endothelial cells. Finally, in vitro, 8D3 does not interfere with iron uptake of lymphocytes as it does not influence their proliferation. Taken together, 8D3 represents a versatile new tool to study the tissue distribution of the murine TfR and TfR-mediated transcytosis across tissue barriers in the mouse.

Excitatory sodium currents of NH15-CA2 neuroblastoma x glioma hybrid cells are differently affected by interleukin-2 and interleukin-1beta

The neuroblastoma x glioma hybrid cell line NH15-CA2 was used to test the effects of two interleukins on neuronal Na+ channels. The cells were cultured in the presence of dibutyryl cAMP and retinoic acid, which yielded a high expression of Na+ channels so that the cells were excitable. Na+ currents were triggered and recorded in the whole-cell recording mode. Comparison of the effects of tetrodotoxin and mu-conotoxin established that the expressed Na+ channels were of the neuronal type. Bath-applied recombinant human interleukin-2 (rIL-2) had a reversible inhibitory effect on the Na+ currents, although to a lesser extent than on muscular Na+ currents (more than 1000 U/ml required for 50% block in NH15-CA2 cells vs 500 U/ml in myoballs). The current/voltage relationship was not affected by the presence of rIL-2, but the steady-state inactivation curve was shifted by -7.7 +/- 4.8 mV (mean +/- SD, n=18). Recombinant human interleukin-1beta (rIL-1beta), applied at 1000 U/ml, showed an inhibitory effect on the Na+ currents in about one-third of the cells tested. The mechanism of inhibition was different from that of rIL-2, as rIL-1beta seemed to cause a block without affecting voltage dependence or kinetics of the channels.