Publications by authors named "Alexandra Faust"

Background: While tobacco use among individuals involved in the criminal legal system remains 3-4 times higher than the general population, few interventions have been targeted for this population to aid in smoking cessation. Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is a relatively effective and accessible smoking cessation aid; however, individuals frequently stop use of NRT early due to side effects and misperceptions about the products. The present study aims to address low medication adherence by examining the efficacy of an "" NRT sampling experience in individuals under community criminal legal supervision.

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Objective: We examined if abortion-related knowledge among women with criminal legal system involvement differed in three U.S. cities in states with varying abortion policies.

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Background: Betrayal trauma, as defined by (Freyd, 1996), refers to a subcategory of trauma characterized by a significant violation of trust surrounding interpersonal maltreatment (physical, sexual, or emotional). Previous research has shown that people with betrayal trauma histories experience greater dissociative symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and co-morbid substance use disorder symptoms. Women in the criminal legal system commonly have significant histories of betrayal trauma and related posttraumatic stress symptoms and substance use.

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In March-April, 2020, we communicated with a cohort of criminal justice-involved (CJI) women to see how they were navigating COVID-19, chronic illness, homelessness, and shelter-in-place orders in Oakland, Birmingham, and Kansas City. We report on conversations with = 35 women (out of the cohort of 474 women) and our own observations from ongoing criminal justice involvement studies. Women reported barriers to protecting themselves given widespread unstable housing and complex health needs, though many tried to follow COVID-19 prevention recommendations.

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MicroRNA (miRNA)-mediated regulation of the cellular transcriptome is an important epigenetic mechanism for fine-tuning regulatory pathways. These include processes related to skin cancer development, progression and metastasis. However, little is known about the role of microRNA as an intermediary in the carcinogenic processes following exposure to UV-radiation.

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UVA-radiation (315-400 nm) has been demonstrated to be capable of inducing DNA damage and is regarded as a carcinogen. While chromosomal aberrations found in UVA-irradiated cells and skin tumors provided evidence of the genetic involvement in UVA-carcinogenesis, its epigenetic participation is still illusive. We thus analysed the epigenetic patterns of 5 specific genes that are involved in stem cell fate (KLF4, NANOG), telomere maintenance (hTERT) and tumor suppression in cell cycle control (P16(INK4a), P21(WAFI/CIPI)) in chronically UVA-irradiated HaCaT human keratinocytes.

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