Centerpoint theorems for wedges

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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, other mental health problems, substance use and driving: Examination of a population-based, representative Canadian sample

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships among self-reported screening measures of ADHD, other psychiatric problems, and driving-related outcomes in a provincially representative sample of adults 18 years and older living in the province of Ontario, Canada. Methods: The study examined the results of the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health (CAMH) Ontario Monitor, an ongoing repeated cross-sectional telephone survey of Ontario adults over a two year period. Measures: ADHD measures (Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale-V1.1 (ASRS-V1.1), previous ADHD diagnosis, ADHD medication use); psychiatric distress measures (General Health Questionnaire (GHQ12), pain, anxiety and depression medication use); antisocial behaviour measure (The Antisocial Personality Disorder Scale from the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (APD)); substance use and abuse measures (alcohol, cannabis and cocaine), Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST)); driving-related outcomes (driving after drinking, driving after cannabis use, street racing, collisions in past year) and socio-demographics (gender, age, vehicle km travelled). Results: A total of 4014 Ontario residents were sampled, of which 3485 reported having a valid driver’s licence. Overall, 3.22% screened positively for ADHD symptoms on the ASRS-V1.1 screening tool. A greater percent of those who screened positively were younger, reported previous ADHD diagnosis and medication use, distress, antisocial behaviour, anti-anxiety and anti-depressant medication use, substance use and social problems compared to those who screened negatively. However, there were no statistically significant differences between those who screened positively or negatively for ADHD symptoms on self-reported driving after having two or more drinks in the previous hour, within an hour of using cannabis, marijuana or hash, in a street race or collision involvement as a driver in the past year. When a sequential regression was conducted to predict self-reported collisions, younger age, higher weekly kilometres driven showed higher odds of collision involvement, while the odds ratio for cannabis use ever, approached statistical significance. Discussion: This study is the first population-based study of a representative sample of adults 18 years and older living in Ontario, Canada. These results showed no relationship between the ADHD screen and collision when age, sex and kilometers driven are controlled for. However, these analyses are based on self-report screeners and not psychiatric diagnoses and a limited sample of ADHD respondents. Thus, these results should be interpreted with caution

Next Gen Flexible Facility for ICB or Batch, Enabling Technologies and Economics

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Self-reported ill health in male UK Gulf War veterans: a retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: Forces deployed to the first Gulf War report more ill health than veterans who did not serve there. Many studies of post-Gulf morbidity are based on relatively small sample sizes and selection bias is often a concern. In a setting where selection bias relating to the ill health of veterans may be reduced, we: i) examined self-reported adult ill health in a large sample of male UK Gulf War veterans and a demographically similar non-deployed comparison group; and ii) explored self-reported ill health among veterans who believed that they had Gulf War syndrome. METHODS: This study uses data from a retrospective cohort study of reproduction and child health in which a validated postal questionnaire was sent to all UK Gulf War veterans (GWV) and a comparison cohort of Armed Service personnel who were not deployed to the Gulf (NGWV). The cohort for analysis comprises 42,818 males who responded to the questionnaire. RESULTS: We confirmed that GWV report higher rates of general ill health. GWV were significantly more likely to have reported at least one new medical symptom or disease since 1990 than NGWV (61% versus 37%, OR 2.7, 95% CI 2.5–2.8). They were also more likely to report higher numbers of symptoms. The strongest associations were for mood swings (OR 20.9, 95%CI 16.2–27.0), memory loss/lack of concentration (OR 19.6, 95% CI 15.5–24.8), night sweats (OR 9.9, 95% CI 6.5–15.2), general fatigue (OR 9.6, 95% CI 8.3–11.1) and sexual dysfunction (OR 4.6, 95%CI 3.2–6.6). 6% of GWV believed they had Gulf War syndrome (GWS), and this was associated with the highest symptom reporting. CONCLUSIONS: Increased levels of reported ill health among GWV were confirmed. This study was the first to use a questionnaire which did not focus specifically on the veterans' symptoms themselves. Nevertheless, the results are consistent with those of other studies of post-Gulf war illness and thus strengthen overall findings in this area of research. Further examination of the mechanisms underlying the reporting of ill health is required

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

CENTERPOINT THEOREMS FOR WEDGES

The Centerpoint Theorem states that, for any set S of n points in R d, there exists a point p in R d such that every closed halfspace containing p contains at least ⌈n/(d + 1) ⌉ points of S. We consider generalizations of the Centerpoint Theorem in which halfspaces are replaced with wedges (cones) of angle α. In R 2, we give bounds that are tight for all values of α and give an O(n) time algorithm to find a point satisfying these bounds. We also give partial results for R 3 and, more generally, R d