Measles outbreak reveals measles susceptibility among adults in Namibia, 2009 - 2011

Background. The World Health Organization, African Region, set the goal of  achieving measles elimination by 2020. Namibia was one of seven African countries to implement an accelerated measles control strategy beginning in 1996. Following implementation of this strategy, measles incidence decreased; however, between 2009 and 2011 a major outbreak occurred in Namibia.Methods. Measles vaccination coverage data were analysed and a descriptive  epidemiological analysis of the measles outbreak was conducted using measles case-based surveillance and laboratory data.Results. During 1989 - 2008, MCV1 (the first routine dose of measles vaccine) coverage increased from 56% to 73% and five supplementary immunisation activities were implemented. During the outbreak (August 2009 - February 2011), 4 605 suspected measles cases were reported; of these, 3 256 were confirmed by laboratory testing or epidemiological linkage. Opuwo, a largely rural district in north-western Namibia with nomadic populations, had the highest confirmed measles incidence (16 427 cases per million). Infants aged ≤11 months had the highest cumulative age-specific incidence (9 252 cases per million) and comprised 22% of all confirmed cases; however, cases occurred across a wide age range, including adults aged ≥30 years. Among confirmed cases, 85% were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination history. The predominantly detected measles virus genotype was B3, circulating in concurrent outbreaks in southern Africa, and B2, previously detected in Angola.Conclusion. A large-scale measles outbreak with sustained transmission over 18 months occurred in Namibia, probably caused by importation. The wide age distribution of cases indicated measles-susceptible individuals accumulated over several decades prior to the start of the outbreak

Influence of Motor Planning on Distance Perception within the Peripersonal Space

We examined whether movement costs as defined by movement magnitude have an impact on distance perception in near space. In Experiment 1, participants were given a numerical cue regarding the amplitude of a hand movement to be carried out. Before the movement execution, the length of a visual distance had to be judged. These visual distances were judged to be larger, the larger the amplitude of the concurrently prepared hand movement was. In Experiment 2, in which numerical cues were merely memorized without concurrent movement planning, this general increase of distance with cue size was not observed. The results of these experiments indicate that visual perception of near space is specifically affected by the costs of planned hand movements

Reduced Distractibility in a Remote Culture

Background In visual processing, there are marked cultural differences in the tendency to adopt either a global or local processing style. A remote culture (the Himba) has recently been reported to have a greater local bias in visual processing than Westerners. Here we give the first evidence that a greater, and remarkable, attentional selectivity provides the basis for this local bias. Methodology/Principal Findings In Experiment 1, Eriksen-type flanker interference was measured in the Himba and in Western controls. In both groups, responses to the direction of a task-relevant target arrow were affected by the compatibility of task-irrelevant distractor arrows. However, the Himba showed a marked reduction in overall flanker interference compared to Westerners. The smaller interference effect in the Himba occurred despite their overall slower performance than Westerners, and was evident even at a low level of perceptual load of the displays. In Experiment 2, the attentional selectivity of the Himba was further demonstrated by showing that their attention was not even captured by a moving singleton distractor. Conclusions/Significance We argue that the reduced distractibility in the Himba is clearly consistent with their tendency to prioritize the analysis of local details in visual processing

Association between relative age at school and persistence of ADHD in prospective studies: an individual participant data meta-analysis

Background: The youngest children in a school class are more likely than the oldest to be diagnosed with ADHD, but this relative age effect is less frequent in older than in younger school-grade children. However, no study has explored the association between relative age and the persistence of ADHD diagnosis at older ages. We aimed to quantify the association between relative age and persistence of ADHD at older ages. Methods: For this meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and PubPsych up to April 1, 2022, with terms related to “cohort” and “ADHD” with no date, publication type, or language restrictions. We gathered individual participant data from prospective cohorts that included at least ten children identified with ADHD before age 10 years. ADHD was defined by either a clinical diagnosis or symptoms exceeding clinical cutoffs. Relative age was recorded as the month of birth in relation to the school-entry cutoff date. Study authors were invited to share raw data or to apply a script to analyse data locally and generate anonymised results. Our outcome was ADHD status at a diagnostic reassessment, conducted at least 4 years after the initial assessment and after age 10 years. No information on sex, gender, or ethnicity was collected. We did a two-stage random-effects individual participant data meta-analysis to assess the association of relative age with persistence of ADHD at follow-up. This study was registered with PROSPERO, CRD42020212650. Findings: Of 33 119 studies generated by our search, we identified 130 eligible unique studies and were able to gather individual participant data from 57 prospective studies following up 6504 children with ADHD. After exclusion of 16 studies in regions with a flexible school entry system that did not allow confident linkage of birthdate to relative age, the primary analysis included 41 studies in 15 countries following up 4708 children for a period of 4 to 33 years. We found that younger relative age was not statistically significantly associated with ADHD persistence at follow-up (odds ratio 1·02, 95% CI 0·99–1·06; p=0·19). We observed statistically significant heterogeneity in our model (Q=75·82, p=0·0011, I2=45%). Participant-level sensitivity analyses showed similar results in cohorts with a robust relative age effect at baseline and when restricting to cohorts involving children with a clinical diagnosis of ADHD or with a follow-up duration of more than 10 years. Interpretation: The diagnosis of ADHD in younger children in a class is no more likely to be disconfirmed over time than that of older children in the class. One interpretation is that the relative age effect decreases the likelihood of children of older relative age receiving a diagnosis of ADHD, and another is that assigning a diagnostic label of ADHD leads to unexplored carryover effects of the initial diagnosis that persist over time. Future studies should be conducted to explore these interpretations further. Funding: None

Les croyances implicites et explicites sur la prise de risque des adolescents en contexte social.

De nombreux travaux soulignent le rôle du contexte socio-émotionnel, notamment de la présence des pairs, dans la perception et la prise de risque des adolescents (Crone & Dahl, 2012; Galvan, 2010; Shulman, et al., 2016; Somerville et al., 2010). Ce constat rejoint une croyance à première vue partagée selon laquelle les adolescents seraient particulièrement preneurs de risque et sensibles à l’influence du groupe. Cependant, les croyances des adolescents concernant leur propre prise de risque et leur sensibilité à l’influence sociale restent peu explorées, alors même que nos croyances ont une influence directe sur nos jugements et nos décisions (Ferguson & Bargh, 2004). Cette étude adresse les questions suivantes : les adolescents et les adultes (1) perçoivent-ils réellement l’adolescence comme une période de plus grande prise de risque ? (2) endossent-ils la croyance selon laquelle les adolescents, comparés aux adultes, prendraient davantage de risque lorsqu’ils sont en présence de leurs pairs ? Afin de répondre à ces questions, 56 adolescents (16-18 ans) et 43 adultes (30-60 ans) ont complété un questionnaire mesurant les croyances à propos de la prise de risque des adolescents/adultes seuls ou en présence de pairs, ainsi qu’une tâche de raisonnement syllogistique visant à mesurer indirectement ces mêmes croyances. Ces deux types de mesures indiquent que les adolescents adhèrent à la croyance selon laquelle l’adolescence est associée à une plus grande prise de risque comparé à l’âge adulte, et selon laquelle la présence de pairs accentue cet effet. Les adultes perçoivent l’effet délétère des pairs indépendamment du groupe d’âge considéré. Cette étude suggère donc que les adolescents sont les premiers à adhérer à la vision d’un adolescent preneur de risque et particulièrement influençable. Les implications de ces représentations sociales semblent décisives pour mieux comprendre et prévenir l’engagement des adolescents dans la prise de risque

Les croyances implicites et explicites sur la prise de risque des adolescents en contexte social.

De nombreux travaux soulignent le rôle du contexte socio-émotionnel, notamment de la présence des pairs, dans la perception et la prise de risque des adolescents (Crone & Dahl, 2012; Galvan, 2010; Shulman, et al., 2016; Somerville et al., 2010). Ce constat rejoint une croyance à première vue partagée selon laquelle les adolescents seraient particulièrement preneurs de risque et sensibles à l’influence du groupe. Cependant, les croyances des adolescents concernant leur propre prise de risque et leur sensibilité à l’influence sociale restent peu explorées, alors même que nos croyances ont une influence directe sur nos jugements et nos décisions (Ferguson & Bargh, 2004). Cette étude adresse les questions suivantes : les adolescents et les adultes (1) perçoivent-ils réellement l’adolescence comme une période de plus grande prise de risque ? (2) endossent-ils la croyance selon laquelle les adolescents, comparés aux adultes, prendraient davantage de risque lorsqu’ils sont en présence de leurs pairs ? Afin de répondre à ces questions, 56 adolescents (16-18 ans) et 43 adultes (30-60 ans) ont complété un questionnaire mesurant les croyances à propos de la prise de risque des adolescents/adultes seuls ou en présence de pairs, ainsi qu’une tâche de raisonnement syllogistique visant à mesurer indirectement ces mêmes croyances. Ces deux types de mesures indiquent que les adolescents adhèrent à la croyance selon laquelle l’adolescence est associée à une plus grande prise de risque comparé à l’âge adulte, et selon laquelle la présence de pairs accentue cet effet. Les adultes perçoivent l’effet délétère des pairs indépendamment du groupe d’âge considéré. Cette étude suggère donc que les adolescents sont les premiers à adhérer à la vision d’un adolescent preneur de risque et particulièrement influençable. Les implications de ces représentations sociales semblent décisives pour mieux comprendre et prévenir l’engagement des adolescents dans la prise de risque

A database management system of DPWH-inspected public school buildings: A tool for seismic vulnerability classification and prioritization for decision makers

Prolonging the life of important structures such as public school buildings due to earthquake hazards requires regular inspection, maintenance and possible retrofitting. Detailed inspection and retrofitting, however, is costly considering the limited budget. Public school buildings that need detailed inspection and possible retrofitting must be prioritized using a brief seismic diagnosis. The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) regularly inspects public school buildings and refers the survey results to the Department of Education for further action. The DPWH adopts the Rapid Visual Screening (RVS) procedure of FEMA 154/ATC21, a methodology based on a sidewalk survey of a building, where a building is inspected fromt he exterior in order to quickly determine if the building is inspected from the exterior in order to quickly determine if the building is probably adequate for the earthquake forces it is likely to experience, or whether there may be reasonable doubts as to the building\u27s seismic performance. The RVS yields a Basic Structural Hazard Score which may be used to identify, inventory, and rank buildings that are potentially seismically hazardous. Buildings that will be subjected to a more detailed inspection are usually determined based on cut-off value of the RVS score. To further refine the use of RVS specially in prioritizing public school buildings for a more detailed inspection and possible retrofitting, a two-dimensional approach is proposed wherein a dual criteria is used to classify buildings based on the RVS score and second criterion such as non-structural defects, assets\u27 importance, population or seismic hazards. The inspection survey results on school buildings obtained from the Department of Public Works in Manila were stored in a database to implement the 2D-seismic vulnerability classification and ranking. Based on the preference of a decision maker, the second criterion can be selected and a classification and ranking of the school buildings for a given area (district or city) will be automatically displayed with a GIS map. Through this approach, decision makers can be guided in prioritizing buildings and identifying buildings that require immediate attention for detailed investigation and possible retrofitting