Childhood Environment and Mental Wellbeing at Age 60-64 Years: Prospective Evidence from the MRC National Survey of Health and Development

Background

Mental wellbeing, conceptualised as positive affect, life satisfaction and realisation of needs that contribute to psychological growth, captures more than the absence of mental ill health. Several nations now aim to monitor and improve mental wellbeing. Whilst many studies document associations between adverse childhood experiences and mental disorders in adulthood, possible links between childhood experiences and adult mental wellbeing have so far received less attention.

Methods

Using data from 1976 men and women in the MRC National Survey for Health and Development, we investigated prospective associations between childhood socioeconomic and psychosocial environments and the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, designed to capture both hedonic and eudaimonic facets of wellbeing, at age 60-64.

Results

Whilst there was no evidence that childhood socioeconomic circumstances were related to later wellbeing independently of other childhood experiences, elements of childrearing and parenting, parental health and adjustment, and childhood illness were related. More advantaged socioeconomic position was associated with greater wellbeing but this did not explain the links between these childhood exposures and adult wellbeing, suggesting alternative explanatory pathways should be considered.

Conclusions

Childhood illness and family psychosocial environment are associated with mental wellbeing in early older age, with effects sizes that are larger or comparable to socioeconomic circumstances in adulthood. Initiatives to improve the nation’s mental wellbeing that include programmes targeted to supporting families and children may additionally have benefits that continue into older age.     

Determination of low bacterial concentrations in hyperarid Atacama soils: comparison of biochemical and microscopy methods with real-time quantitative PCR

Hyperarid Atacama soils are reported to contain significantly reduced numbers of microbes per gram of soil relative to soils from other environments. Molecular methods have been used to evaluate microbial populations in hyperarid Atacama soils; however, conflicting results across the various studies, possibly caused by this low number of microorganisms and consequent biomass, suggest that knowledge of expected DNA concentrations in these soils becomes important to interpreting data from any method regarding microbial concentrations and diversity. In this paper we compare the number of bacteria per gram of Atacama Desert soils determined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction with the number of bacteria estimated by the standard methods of phospholipids fatty acid analysis, adenine composition (determined by liquid chromatography - time-of-flight mass spectrometry), and SYBR-green microscopy. The number determined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction as implemented in this study was several orders of magnitude lower than that determined by the other three methods and probably underestimates the concentrations of soil bacteria, most likely because of soil binding during the DNA extraction methods. However, the other methods very possibly overestimate the bacteria concentrations owing to desiccated, intact organisms, which would stain positive in microscopy and preserve both adenine and phospholipid fatty acid for the other methods.     

Comparison of sex pheromone traps for monitoring pink hibiscus mealybug (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)

The pink hibiscus mealybug, Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), is a highly polyphagous pest that invaded Florida in 2002 and has recently been reported from several locations in Louisiana. Although identification of its sex pheromone in 2004 improved monitoring capabilities tremendously, the effectiveness and efficiency of different pheromone trap designs for capturing males has not been evaluated. We deployed green Delta, Pherocon IlB, Pherocon V, Jackson, and Storgard Thinline traps in Homestead, FL, and compared the number of male M. hirsutus captured per trap, the number captured per unit of trapping surface area, the amount of extraneous material captured, and the time taken to count trapped mealybugs. Pheromone-baited traps with larger trapping surfaces (green Delta, Pherocon IIB, and Pherocon V) captured more males per trap than those with smaller surfaces (Jackson and Storgard Thinline), and fewest males were captured by Storgard Thinline traps. However, Jackson traps captured as many or more males per square centimeter of trapping surface as those with larger surfaces, and the time required to count males in Jackson traps was significantly less than in green Delta, Pherocon IIB, and Pherocon V traps. Although all trap designs accumulated some debris and nontarget insects, it was rated as light to moderate for all designs. Based on our measures of effectiveness and efficiency, the Jackson trap is most suitable for monitoring M. hirsutus populations. Additionally, unlike the other traps evaluated, which must be replaced entirely or inspected in the field and then redeployed, only the sticky liners of Jackson traps require replacement, enhancing the efficiency of trap servicing.     

Compartmental modeling of whole-body vitamin A kinetics in unsupplemented and vitamin A-retinoic acid-supplemented neonatal rats

Little is known about the contribution of different tissues to whole-body vitamin A (VA) kinetics in neonates. Here, we have used model-based compartmental analysis of tissue tracer kinetic data from unsupplemented (control) and VA-retinoic acid (VARA)-supplemented neonatal rats to determine VA kinetics in specific tissues under control and supplemented conditions. First, compartmental models for retinol kinetics were developed for individual tissues, and then an integrated compartmental model incorporating all tissues was developed for both groups. The models predicted that 52% of chylomicron (CM) retinyl ester was cleared by liver in control pups versus 22% in VARA-treated pups, whereas about 51% of VA was predicted to be extrahepatic in 4- to 6-day-old unsupplemented neonatal rats. VARA increased CM retinyl ester uptake by lung, carcass, and intestine; decreased the release into plasma of retinol that had been cleared by liver and lung as CM retinyl esters; stimulated the uptake of retinol from plasma holo-retinol binding protein into carcass; and decreased the retinol turnover out of the liver. Overall, neonatal VA trafficking differed from that previously described for adult animals, with a larger contribution of extrahepatic tissues to CM clearance, especially after VA supplementation, and a significant amount of VA distributed in extrahepatic tissues.