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Objective: Asymmetry is a subtle but pervasive aspect of the human brain, and it may be altered in several psychiatric conditions. MRI studies have shown subtle differences of brain anatomy between people with major depressive disorder and healthy control subjects, but few studies have specifically examined brain anatomical asymmetry in relation to this disorder, and results from those studies have remained inconclusive. At the functional level, some electroencephalography studies have indicated left fronto-cortical hypoactivity and right parietal hypoactivity in depressive disorders, so aspects of lateralized anatomy may also be affected. The authors used pooled individual-level data from data sets collected around the world to investigate differences in laterality in measures of cortical thickness, cortical surface area, and subcortical volume between individuals with major depression and healthy control subjects.Methods: The authors investigated differences in the laterality of thickness and surface area measures of 34 cerebral cortical regions in 2,256 individuals with major depression and 3,504 control subjects from 31 separate data sets, and they investigated volume asymmetries of eight subcortical structures in 2,540 individuals with major depression and 4,230 control subjects from 32 data sets. T-1-weighted MRI data were processedwith a single protocol using FreeSurfer and the Desikan-Killiany atlas. The large sample size provided 80% power to detect effects of the order of Cohen's d=0.1.Results: The largest effect size (Cohen's d) of major depression diagnosis was 0.085 for the thickness asymmetry of the superior temporal cortex, which was not significant after adjustment for multiple testing. Asymmetry measures were not significantly associated with medication use, acute compared with remitted status, first episode compared with recurrent status, or age at onset.Conclusions: Altered brain macro-anatomical asymmetry may be of little relevance to major depression etiology in most cases.

Editors’ Summary Background Cardiometabolic diseases—cardiovascular diseases that affect the heart and/or the blood vessels and metabolic diseases that affect the cellular chemical reactions needed to sustain life—are a growing global health concern. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, the prevalence (the proportion of a population that has a given disease) of adults with diabetes (a life-shortening metabolic disease that affects how the body handles sugars) is currently 3.8%. By 2030, it is estimated that the prevalence of diabetes among adults in this region will have risen to 4.6%. Similarly, in 2004, around 1.2 million deaths in sub-Saharan Africa were attributed to coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases. By 2030, the number of deaths in this region attributable to cardiovascular disease is expected to double. Globally, cardiovascular disease and diabetes are now responsible for around 17.3 million and 1.3 million annual deaths, respectively, together accounting for about one-third of all deaths. Why Was This Study Done? Experts believe that increased consumption of saturated fats, sugar, and salt and reduced physical activity are partly responsible for the increasing global prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases. These lifestyle changes, they suggest, are related to urbanization—urban expansion into the countryside and migration from rural to urban areas. If this is true, the prevalence of unhealthy lifestyles should increase as rural areas adopt urban characteristics. Sub-Saharan Africa is the least urbanized region in the world, with about 60% of the population living in rural areas. However, rural settlements across the subcontinent are increasingly adopting urban characteristics. It is important to know whether urbanization is affecting the health of rural residents in sub-Saharan Africa to improve estimates of the future burden of cardiometabolic diseases in the region and to provide insights into ways to limit this burden. In this cross-sectional study (an investigation that studies participants at a single time point), the researchers examine the distribution of urban characteristics across rural communities in Uganda and the association of these characteristics with lifestyle risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases. What Did the Researchers Do and Find? For their study, the researchers used data collected in 2011 by the General Population Cohort study, a study initiated in 1989 to describe HIV infection trends among people living in 25 villages in rural southwestern Uganda that collects health-related and other information annually from its participants. The researchers quantified the “urbanicity” of the 25 villages using a multi-component scale that included information such as village size and economic activity. They then used statistical models to examine associations between urbanicity and lifestyle risk factors such as body mass index (BMI, a measure of obesity) and self-reported fruit and vegetable consumption for more than 7,000 study participants living in those villages. None of the villages had paved roads or running water. However, urbanicity varied markedly across the villages, largely because of differences in economic activity, civil infrastructure, and the availability of educational and healthcare services. Notably, increasing urbanicity was associated with an increase in lifestyle risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. So, for example, people living in villages with the highest urbanicity scores were nearly 20% more likely to be physically inactive and to eat less fruits and vegetables and nearly 50% more likely to have a high BMI than people living in villages with the lowest urbanicity scores. What Do These Findings Mean? These findings indicate that, across rural communities in Uganda, even a small increase in urbanicity is associated with a higher prevalence of potentially modifiable lifestyle risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases. These findings suggest, therefore, that simply classifying settlements as either rural or urban may not be adequate to capture the information needed to target strategies for cardiometabolic disease management and control in rural areas as they become more urbanized. Because this study was cross-sectional, it is not possible to say how long a rural population needs to experience a more urban environment before its risk of cardiometabolic diseases increases. Longitudinal studies are needed to obtain this information. Moreover, studies of other countries in sub-Saharan Africa are needed to show that these findings are generalizable across the region. However, based on these findings, and given that more than 553 million people live in rural areas across sub-Saharan Africa, it seems likely that increasing urbanization will have a substantial impact on the future health of populations throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Additional Information Please access these websites via the online version of this summary at http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001683. This study is further discussed in a PLOS Medicine Perspective by Fahad Razak and Lisa Berkman The American Heart Association provides information on all aspects of cardiovascular disease and diabetes; its website includes personal stories about heart attacks, stroke, and diabetes The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has information on heart disease, stroke, and diabetes (in English and Spanish) The UK National Health Service Choices website provides information about cardiovascular disease and diabetes (including some personal stories) The World Health Organization’s Global Noncommunicable Disease Network (NCDnet) aims to help low- and middle-income countries reduce illness and death caused by cardiometabolic and other non-communicable diseases The World Heart Federation has recently produced a report entitled “Urbanization and Cardiovascular Disease” Wikipedia has a page on urbanization (note that Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit; available in several languages) Background Urban living is associated with unhealthy lifestyles that can increase the risk of cardiometabolic diseases. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where the majority of people live in rural areas, it is still unclear if there is a corresponding increase in unhealthy lifestyles as rural areas adopt urban characteristics. This study examines the distribution of urban characteristics across rural communities in Uganda and their associations with lifestyle risk factors for chronic diseases. Methods and Findings Using data collected in 2011, we examined cross-sectional associations between urbanicity and lifestyle risk factors in rural communities in Uganda, with 7,340 participants aged 13 y and above across 25 villages. Urbanicity was defined according to a multi-component scale, and Poisson regression models were used to examine associations between urbanicity and lifestyle risk factors by quartile of urbanicity. Despite all of the villages not having paved roads and running water, there was marked variation in levels of urbanicity across the villages, largely attributable to differences in economic activity, civil infrastructure, and availability of educational and healthcare services. In regression models, after adjustment for clustering and potential confounders including socioeconomic status, increasing urbanicity was associated with an increase in lifestyle risk factors such as physical inactivity (risk ratio [RR]: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.14, 1.24), low fruit and vegetable consumption (RR: 1.17; 95% CI: 1.10, 1.23), and high body mass index (RR: 1.48; 95% CI: 1.24, 1.77). Conclusions This study indicates that even across rural communities in SSA, increasing urbanicity is associated with a higher prevalence of lifestyle risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases. This finding highlights the need to consider the health impact of urbanization in rural areas across SSA. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary Johanna Riha and colleagues evaluate the association of lifestyle risk factors with elements of urbanicity, such as having a public telephone, a primary school, or a hospital, among individuals living in rural settings in Uganda. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary

ObjectiveAn enriched environment embedded in an acute stroke unit can increase activity levels of patients who had stroke, with changes sustained 6 months post-implementation. The objective of this study was to understand perceptions and experiences of nursing and allied health professionals involved in implementing an enriched environment in an acute stroke unit.DesignA descriptive qualitative approach.SettingAn acute stroke unit in a regional Australian hospital.ParticipantsWe purposively recruited three allied health and seven nursing professionals involved in the delivery of the enriched environment. Face-to-face, semistructured interviews were conducted 8 weeks post-completion of the enriched environment study. One independent researcher completed all interviews. Voice-recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed by three researchers using a thematic approach to identify main themes.ResultsThree themes were identified. First, staff perceived that ‘the road to recovery had started’ for patients. An enriched environment was described to shift the focus to recovery in the acute setting, which was experienced through increased patient activity, greater psychological well-being and empowering patients and families. Second, ‘it takes a team’ to successfully create an enriched environment. Integral to building the team were positive interdisciplinary team dynamics and education. The impact of the enriched environment on workload was diversely experienced by staff. Third, ‘keeping it going’ was perceived to be challenging. Staff reflected that changing work routines was difficult. Contextual factors such as a supportive physical environment and variety in individual enrichment opportunities were indicated to enhance implementation. Key to sustaining change was consistency in staff and use of change management strategies.ConclusionInvestigating staff perceptions and experiences of an enrichment model in an acute stroke unit highlighted the need for effective teamwork. To facilitate staff in their new work practice, careful selection of change management strategies are critical to support clinical translation of an enriched environment.Trial registration numberANZCTN12614000679684; Results.

Funding: Royal Society - UF150663, RGF\EA\180141; Wellcome Trust - 217065/Z/19/Z; H2020 European Research Council - 694189; NWO - 451-15-017; National Health and Medical Research Council - 1173896; Canadian Institute for Health Research - MOP-133440. Handedness has been studied for association with language-related disorders because of its link with language hemispheric dominance. No clear pattern has emerged, possibly because of small samples, publication bias, and heterogeneous criteria across studies. Non-right-handedness (NRH) frequency was assessed in N = 2503 cases with reading and/or language impairment and N = 4316 sex-matched controls identified from 10 distinct cohorts (age range 6–19 years old; European ethnicity) using a priori set criteria. A meta-analysis (Ncases = 1994) showed elevated NRH % in individuals with language/reading impairment compared with controls (OR = 1.21, CI = 1.06–1.39, p = .01). The association between reading/language impairments and NRH could result from shared pathways underlying brain lateralization, handedness, and cognitive functions. Publisher PDF Peer reviewed

Background and purposeAlthough the genetic contribution to stroke risk is well known, it remains unclear if young‐onset stroke has a stronger genetic contribution than old‐onset stroke. This study aims to compare the heritability of ischaemic stroke risk between young and old, using common genetic variants from whole‐genome array data in population‐based samples.MethodsThis analysis included 4050 ischaemic stroke cases and 5765 controls from six study populations of European ancestry; 47% of cases were young‐onset stroke (age < 55 years). To quantify the heritability for stroke risk in these unrelated individuals, the pairwise genetic relatedness was estimated between individuals based on their whole‐genome array data using a mixed linear model. Heritability was estimated separately for young‐onset stroke and old‐onset stroke (age ≥ 55 years).ResultsHeritabilities for young‐onset stroke and old‐onset stroke were estimated at 42% (±8%, P < 0.001) and 34% (±10%, P < 0.001), respectively.ConclusionsOur data suggest that the genetic contribution to the risk of stroke may be higher in young‐onset ischaemic stroke, although the difference was not statistically significant.

BACKGROUND: Although the association between dengue in Bali, Indonesia, and imported dengue in Australia has been widely asserted, no study has quantified this association so far. METHODS: Monthly data on dengue and climatic factors over the past decade for Bali and Jakarta as well as monthly data on imported dengue in Australia underwent a three-stage analysis. Stage I: a quasi-Poisson regression with distributed lag non-linear model was used to assess the associations of climatic factors with dengue in Bali. Stage II: a generalized additive model was used to quantify the association of dengue in Bali with imported dengue in Australia with and without including the number of travelers in log scale as an offset. Stage III: the associations of mean temperature and rainfall (two climatic factors identified in stage I) in Bali with imported dengue in Australia were examined using stage I approach. RESULTS: The number of dengue cases in Bali increased with increasing mean temperature, and, up to a certain level, it also increased with increasing rainfall but dropped off for high levels of rainfall. Above a monthly incidence of 1.05 cases per 100,000, dengue in Bali was almost linearly associated with imported dengue in Australia at a lag of one month. Mean temperature (relative risk (RR) per 0.5 °C increase: 2.95, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.87, 4.66) and rainfall (RR per 7.5 mm increase: 3.42, 95% CI: 1.07, 10.92) in Bali were significantly associated with imported dengue in Australia at a lag of four months. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that climatic factors (i.e., mean temperature and rainfall) known to be conducive of dengue transmission in Bali can provide an early warning with 4-month lead time for Australia in order to mitigate future outbreaks of local dengue in Australia. This study also provides a template and framework for future surveillance of travel-related infectious diseases globally.