Publications by authors named "Board A"

Introduction: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are preventable, potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood. Alcohol use during pregnancy can result in miscarriage, stillbirth, preterm birth, and a range of lifelong behavioral, intellectual, and physical disabilities in the child. Limited research has examined the relationship between ACEs and alcohol use in pregnancy; available studies might not reflect current trends in this relationship.

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Introduction: As perinatal drug overdoses continue to rise, reliable approaches are needed to monitor overdose trends during pregnancy and postpartum. This analysis aimed to determine the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of ICD-9/10-CM codes for drug overdose events among people in the MATernaL and Infant clinical NetworK (MAT-LINK) with medication for opioid use disorder during pregnancy.

Methods: People included in this analysis had electronic health record documentation of medication for opioid use disorder and a known pregnancy outcome from January 1, 2014, through August 31, 2021.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study aimed to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health of people who inject drugs (PWID) using a collaborative data-sharing model established in 2021, which pooled data from multiple studies across North America.
  • - Researchers analyzed data on various health indicators (like substance use treatment and mental health conditions) over four different time periods: pre-pandemic, early-pandemic, mid-pandemic, and late-pandemic, involving 6,213 PWID participants.
  • - The results showed minimal changes in health indicators throughout the pandemic, suggesting stability possibly due to policy adjustments and resilience in support services for PWID, highlighting the potential of the data-sharing model for better health insights.
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The effect of population bottlenecks and genome reduction on enzyme function is poorly understood. Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum is a bacterium with a reduced genome that is transmitted vertically to the egg of an infected psyllid-a population bottleneck that imposes genetic drift and is predicted to affect protein structure and function. Here, we define the function of Ca.

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Objectives: We aimed to determine the prevalence of self-reported naloxone use during pregnancy among people in the United States with a recent live birth. A secondary objective was to characterize people at increased risk of overdose who did and did not use naloxone.

Methods: We analyzed data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System from 26 US jurisdictions that conducted an opioid supplement survey from 2019 to 2020.

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Background: The Surveillance for Emerging Threats to Pregnant People and Infants Network (SET-NET) collects data abstracted from medical records and birth defects registries on pregnant people and their infants to understand outcomes associated with prenatal exposures. We developed an automated process to categorize possible birth defects for prenatal COVID-19, hepatitis C, and syphilis surveillance. By employing keyword searches, fuzzy matching, natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning (ML), we aimed to decrease the number of cases needing manual clinician review.

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Objectives: The postpartum period presents an opportunity to engage in discussions about alcohol consumption and related health harms. This study examined the prevalence of alcohol consumption among a sample of postpartum persons with a recent live birth and screening and brief intervention (alcohol SBI) or counseling by their providers.

Methods: We analyzed 2019 data from a telephone survey conducted 9 to 10 months postpartum among individuals who responded to the standard Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System survey in 6 states.

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Cephalhematoma is an accumulation of blood in the subperiosteal space. While cephalhematoma is a well-documented postnatal occurrence, antenatal presentation is quite rare. This case report focuses on a rare presentation of fetal scalp swelling in a routine 32-week antenatal scan of a 38-year-old female.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Substance use during pregnancy heightens the risk for negative health effects on both mothers and newborns, with polysubstance use being particularly prevalent yet poorly understood.
  • - The report highlights the CDC's initiatives and identified gaps concerning surveillance, routine screening, and prevention efforts related to polysubstance use in pregnancy.
  • - Enhancing these efforts by the CDC and other organizations could significantly improve health outcomes for pregnant individuals and their children.
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Background: Substance use during pregnancy is associated with poor health outcomes. This study assessed substance use, polysubstance use, and use of select prescription medications during pregnancy.

Methods: We analyzed 2019 data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System in 25 United States jurisdictions that included questions on prescription medications, tobacco, and illicit substance use during pregnancy.

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Alcohol use during pregnancy is a major preventable cause of adverse alcohol-related outcomes, including birth defects and developmental disabilities.* Alcohol screening and brief intervention (ASBI) is an evidence-based primary care tool that has been shown to prevent or reduce alcohol consumption during pregnancy; interventions have resulted in an increase in the proportion of pregnant women reporting abstinence (odds ratio = 2.26; 95% CI = 1.

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Background: People who inject drugs (PWID) have likely borne disproportionate health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. PWID experienced both interruptions and changes to drug supply and delivery modes of harm reduction, treatment, and other medical services, leading to potentially increased risks for HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV), and overdose. Given surveillance and research disruptions, proximal, indirect indicators of infectious diseases and overdose should be developed for timely measurement of health effects of the pandemic on PWID.

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Telehealth is the use of electronic information and telecommunication technologies to provide care when the patient and the provider are not in the same room at the same time. Telehealth accounted for less than 1% of all Medicare Fee-for-Service outpatient visits in the United States in 2019 but grew to account for 46% of all visits in April 2020. Changes in reimbursement and licensure policies during the COVID-19 pandemic appeared to greatly facilitate this increased use.

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Plants store triacylglycerides in organelles called oil bodies, which are important fuel sources for germination. Oil bodies consist of a lipid core surrounded by an interfacial single layer membrane of phospholipids and proteins. Oleosins are highly conserved plant proteins that are important for oil body formation, solubilising the triacylglycerides, stabilising oil bodies, and playing a role in mobilising the fuel during the germination process.

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Background: In 2019, the United States experienced a nationwide outbreak of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury (EVALI). More than one-half of these patients required admission to an ICU.

Research Question: What are the recent literature and expert opinions which inform the diagnosis and management of patients with critical illness with EVALI?

Study Design And Methods: To synthesize information critical to pulmonary/critical care specialists in the care of patients with EVALI, this study examined data available from patients hospitalized with EVALI between August 2019 and January 2020; reviewed the clinical course and critical care experience with those patients admitted to the ICU; and compiled opinion of national experts.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study analyzed changes in prescription rates for medications used to treat opioid use disorder (MOUD) and naloxone between March 2019 and December 2020, particularly during COVID-19 stay-at-home orders.
  • Findings showed an increase in buprenorphine prescriptions for older adults (ages 40-64 and 65+), but a decline in extended-release naltrexone prescriptions across all demographics during the pandemic.
  • The conclusion emphasized the need to improve access to both MOUD and naloxone to address an increase in substance use and prevent opioid overdoses during and after the public health crisis.
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Introduction: Sociodemographic factors and chronic conditions associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among persons with substance use disorder (PWSUD) are not well understood. We identified risk factors associated with COVID-19 among PWSUD with hospital visits.

Methods: Using the Premier Healthcare Database Special COVID-19 Release, we conducted a case-control study using ICD-10-CM codes to identify PWSUD aged 12 years and older with hospital visits for any reason during April-December 2020.

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Background: Little evidence exists on the health effects of e-cigarette use. DNA methylation may serve as a biomarker for exposure and could be predictive of future health risk. We aimed to investigate the DNA methylation profile of e-cigarette use.

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Adults with disabilities, a group including >25% of U.S. adults (1), experience higher levels of mental health and substance use conditions and lower treatment rates than do adults without disabilities* (2,3).

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Background: To investigate the underlying causes of a sudden increase in HIV among people who inject drugs (PWID) and initiate an appropriate response to the outbreak, we engaged in in-depth qualitative interviews with members of the PWID community in Lawrence and Lowell, Massachusetts.

Methods: We interviewed 34 PWID who were currently or recently unstably housed, then transcribed interviews and coded transcripts, grouping codes into categories from which we identified key themes.

Results: Participants described a heightened threat of overdose prompting PWID to inject together, increasing opportunities for sharing injection equipment.

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Temporal orienting of attention can affect multiple stages of processing to guide adaptive behaviour. We tested whether temporal expectation in different task contexts is compromised in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD). In Experiment 1 two temporal-orienting tasks were used: a speeded task emphasizing motor preparation and a non-speeded task emphasizing perceptual discrimination using rapid serial visual presentation.

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Background: COVID-19 community mitigation measures (e.g., stay-at-home orders) may worsen mental health and substance use-related harms such as opioid use disorder and overdose and limit access to medications for these conditions.

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Context: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) works closely with states and local jurisdictions that are leveraging data from syndromic surveillance systems to identify meaningful changes in overdose trends. CDC developed a suspected nonfatal heroin overdose syndrome definition for use with emergency department (ED) data to help monitor trends at the national, state, and local levels.

Objective: This study assesses the percentage of true-positive unintentional and undetermined intent heroin-involved overdose (UUHOD) captured by this definition.

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