Profiling mechanisms that drive acute oral toxicity in mammals and its prediction via machine learning.

We present a mechanistic machine-learning quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) model to predict mammalian acute oral toxicity. We trained our model using a rat acute toxicity database compiled by the US National Toxicology Program. We profiled the database using new and published profilers and identified the most plausible mechanisms that drive high acute toxicity (LD50 ≤ 50 mg/kg; GHS categories 1 or 2).

Lessons Learned Recruiting and Retaining Pregnant and Postpartum Individuals in Digital Trials: Viewpoint.

In an increasingly connected world and in the midst of a global pandemic, digital trials offer numerous advantages over traditional trials that rely on physical study sites. Digital trials have the potential to improve access to research and clinical treatments for the most vulnerable and minoritized, including pregnant and postpartum individuals. However, digital trials are underutilized in maternal and child health research, and there is limited evidence to inform the design and conduct of digital trials.

Appropriateness of Telemedicine Versus In-Person Care: A Qualitative Exploration of Psychiatrists' Decision Making.

Objective: With widespread adoption of telemedicine in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, psychiatrists must determine which visits are best conducted via telemedicine versus in person. Although some telepsychiatry guidelines and best practices have been developed, the literature has not described how psychiatrists make decisions about offering different care modalities. The authors explored how psychiatrists decide whether telemedicine is appropriate for a given patient.

Impact of telelactation services on breastfeeding outcomes among Black and Latinx parents: protocol for the Tele-MILC randomized controlled trial.

Background: Breastfeeding offers many medical and neurodevelopmental advantages for birthing parents and infants; however, the majority of parents stop breastfeeding before it is recommended. Professional lactation support by the International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) increases breastfeeding rates; however, many communities lack access to IBCLCs. Black and Latinx parents have lower breastfeeding rates, and limited access to professional lactation support may contribute to this disparity.

CATMoS: Collaborative Acute Toxicity Modeling Suite.

Background: Humans are exposed to tens of thousands of chemical substances that need to be assessed for their potential toxicity. Acute systemic toxicity testing serves as the basis for regulatory hazard classification, labeling, and risk management. However, it is cost- and time-prohibitive to evaluate all new and existing chemicals using traditional rodent acute toxicity tests.

Integrating Tobacco Prevention Skills into an Evidence-Based Intervention for Adolescents with ADHD: Results from a Pilot Efficacy Randomized Controlled Trial.

Adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at high risk for tobacco use, but tobacco use prevention strategies are not regularly incorporated into evidence-based ADHD interventions. We conducted a pilot randomized-controlled trial to determine the feasibility of integrating tobacco use prevention skills into a behavioral treatment for ADHD and to provide preliminary efficacy data comparing a combined (ADHD + tobacco) intervention (N = 40) to an ADHD only intervention (N = 23) on tobacco risk outcomes. Sixty-three adolescents (72% male; 13-17 years) with ADHD and their caregivers were randomly assigned to condition and families were masked to condition.

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms, Depression Risk, and Quality of Life in Black Pregnant Women.

Background: Experiencing mental health difficulties during pregnancy predicts a variety of quality-of-life (QoL) outcomes for Black women. However, one area of prenatal mental health remains underresearched: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Given the impairments reported by adults with significant symptoms of ADHD and the linkages between depression and ADHD in nonpregnant samples, the current study aimed to examine the relationships among ADHD symptoms, depression, and QoL in Black pregnant women.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptom clusters differentially predict prenatal health behaviors in pregnant women.

Objective: To date, most investigations of mental health in pregnant women have focused on depression or substance use. This study aimed to (a) delineate the relationships between symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and prenatal health behaviors and (b) explore whether the symptom clusters of ADHD differentially predict prenatal health behaviors (e.g.

Evaluation of OASIS QSAR Models Using ToxCast™ in Vitro Estrogen and Androgen Receptor Binding Data and Application in an Integrated Endocrine Screening Approach.

Background: Integrative testing strategies (ITSs) for potential endocrine activity can use tiered in silico and in vitro models. Each component of an ITS should be thoroughly assessed.

Objectives: We used the data from three in vitro ToxCast™ binding assays to assess OASIS, a quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) platform covering both estrogen receptor (ER) and androgen receptor (AR) binding.

Evaluation of TOPKAT, Toxtree, and Derek Nexus in Silico Models for Ocular Irritation and Development of a Knowledge-Based Framework To Improve the Prediction of Severe Irritation.

Assessment of ocular irritation is an essential component of any risk assessment. A number of (Q)SARs and expert systems have been developed and are described in the literature. Here, we focus on three in silico models (TOPKAT, BfR rulebase implemented in Toxtree, and Derek Nexus) and evaluate their performance using 1644 in-house and 123 European Centre for Toxicology and Ecotoxicology of Chemicals (ECETOC) compounds with existing in vivo ocular irritation classification data.

CAD or MAD? Anger (not disgust) as the predominant response to pathogen-free violations of the divinity code.

The CAD triad hypothesis (Rozin, Lowery, Imada, & Haidt, 1999) stipulates that, cross-culturally, people feel anger for violations of autonomy, contempt for violations of community, and disgust for violations of divinity. Although the disgust-divinity link has received some measure of empirical support, the results have been difficult to interpret in light of several conceptual and design flaws. Taking a revised methodological approach, including use of newly validated (Study 1), pathogen-free violations of the divinity code, we found (Study 2) little evidence of disgust-related phenomenology (nausea, gagging, loss of appetite) or action tendency (desire to move away), but much evidence of anger-linked desire to retaliate, as a major component of individuals' projected response to "pure" (pathogen-free) violations of the divinity code.

Equity in public health standards: a qualitative document analysis of policies from two Canadian provinces.

Introduction: Promoting health equity is a key goal of many public health systems. However, little is known about how equity is conceptualized in such systems, particularly as standards of public health practice are established. As part of a larger study examining the renewal of public health in two Canadian provinces, Ontario and British Columbia (BC), we undertook an analysis of relevant public health documents related to equity.

Interactive agent based modeling of public health decision-making.

Agent-based models have yielded important insights regarding the transmission dynamics of communicable diseases. To better understand how these models can be used to study decision making of public health officials, we developed a computer program that linked an agent-based model of pertussis with an agent-based model of public health management. The program, which we call the Public Health Interactive Model & simulation (PHIMs) encompassed the reporting of cases to public health, case investigation, and public health response.