Diffuse Axonal and Vascular Pathology in the Gyrencephalic Brain after High-Energy Blunt Injury: Clinicopathological Correlations Involving the Brainstem.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) after high-energy, behind helmet blunt trauma (BHBT) is an important but poorly understood clinical entity often associated with apnea and death in humans. In this study, we use a swine model of high-energy BHBT to characterize key neuropathologies and their association with acute respiratory decompensation. Animals with either stable or critical vital signs were euthanized within 4 h after injury for neuropathological assessment, with emphasis on axonal and vascular pathologies in the brainstem.

Baseline functional connectivity predicts who will benefit from neuromodulation: evidence from primary progressive aphasia.

Background: Identifying the characteristics of individuals who demonstrate response to an intervention allows us to predict who is most likely to benefit from certain interventions. Prediction is challenging in rare and heterogeneous diseases, such as primary progressive aphasia (PPA), that have varying clinical manifestations. We aimed to determine the characteristics of those who will benefit most from transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) using a novel heterogeneity and group identification analysis.

Specificity in Generalization Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Over the Left Inferior Frontal Gyrus in Primary Progressive Aphasia.

Objectives: Generalization (or near-transfer) effects of an intervention to tasks not explicitly trained are the most desirable intervention outcomes. However, they are rarely reported and even more rarely explained. One hypothesis for generalization effects is that the tasks improved share the same brain function/computation with the intervention task.

Validation of the combined Patient Health Questionnaire Anxiety and Depression Scale among people with HIV in Vietnam.

Background: Our study aims to examine the factor structure, validity, and reliability of the combined scale Patient Health Questionnaire Anxiety and Depression Scale (PHQ-ADS) among people with HIV (PWH) in Vietnam.

Methods: Baseline data from an alcohol-reduction intervention trial among ART clients in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam were used for this analysis ( = 1547). A score ≥10 on the PHQ-9, GAD-7 and PHQ-ADS scale was considered having clinically meaningful depression, anxiety and distress symptoms.

Phosphatidylethanol and self-reported alcohol consumption among people living with HIV in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam.

Background: Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) is a biomarker for recent alcohol consumption that would ideally validate self-reported alcohol consumption behaviors. We assessed the relationship between PEth and several self-reported alcohol consumption metrics among hazardous alcohol users living with HIV in Vietnam.

Methods: Participants in a three-arm randomized controlled trial assessing two alcohol interventions reported recent alcohol consumption on a 30-day timeline follow-back interview and had a PEth assessment at enrollment, 3 months, and 12 months of the study follow-up.

Alcohol use as a mediator of the effect of two alcohol reduction interventions on mental health symptoms of ART clients in Vietnam.

We aimed to examine the mediating role of alcohol use in the pathway from the interventions to depression and anxiety symptoms using data from a randomized controlled trial among people living with HIV (PWH) with hazardous alcohol use ( = 440) in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam. Participants were randomized into either a combined intervention (CoI), a brief intervention (BI) and a standard of care arm. Both interventions were based on cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational enhancement therapy.

Longitudinal Trajectories of Alcohol Use in Vietnamese Adults with Hazardous Alcohol Use and HIV.

A three-armed drinking cessation trial in Vietnam found that both a brief and intensive version of an intervention effectively reduced hazardous drinking in people living with HIV. We used group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM) to assess the extent to which findings may vary by latent subgroups distinguished by their unique responses to the intervention. Using data on drinking patterns collected over the 12 months, GBTM identified five trajectory groups, three of which were suboptimal ["non-response" (17.

CT-Guided Celiac Ganglion Block for Neurogenic Gastrointestinal Dysmotility.

Purpose: To determine whether celiac ganglion block can serve as a diagnostic test for dysautonomia as the cause of gastrointestinal dysmotility-related symptoms.

Materials And Methods: This was an institutional review board-approved, prospective, single-arm, registered study, from January 2020 to May 2021, and included patients aged 14-85 years with gastrointestinal symptoms of food intolerance, abdominal pain, or angina. Patients with nonneurogenic causes (ie, chronic cholecystitis, peptic ulcer disease, gastroesophageal reflux, and malabsorption syndrome) were excluded.

Long-Term Changes in Axon Calibers after Injury: Observations on the Mouse Corticospinal Tract.

White matter pathology is common across a wide spectrum of neurological diseases. Characterizing this pathology is important for both a mechanistic understanding of neurological diseases as well as for the development of neuroimaging biomarkers. Although axonal calibers can vary by orders of magnitude, they are tightly regulated and related to neuronal function, and changes in axon calibers have been reported in several diseases and their models.

"I refused to drink but they still forced me": A mixed-methods approach to understanding the pathways to reduce alcohol use among Vietnamese people with HIV.

Aims: This study explores the effects of two evidence-based alcohol reduction counseling interventions on readiness to change, alcohol abstinence self-efficacy, social support, and alcohol abstinence stigma among people with HIV (PWH) who have hazardous alcohol use in Vietnam.

Methods: PWH receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) were screened for hazardous drinking and randomized to one of three study arms: combined intervention (CoI), brief intervention (BI), and standard of care (SOC). A quantitative survey was conducted at baseline (N = 440) and 3-month post-intervention (N = 405), while in-depth interviews were conducted with a subset of BI and CoI participants at baseline (N = 14) and 3 months (N = 14).

Neural Correlates of Letter and Semantic Fluency in Primary Progressive Aphasia.

Verbal fluency (VF) is an informative cognitive task. Lesion and functional imaging studies implicate distinct cerebral areas that support letter versus semantic fluency and the understanding of neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying task performance. Most lesion studies include chronic stroke patients.

Sleep as a predictor of tDCS and language therapy outcomes.

Study Objectives: To determine whether sleep at baseline (before therapy) predicted improvements in language following either language therapy alone or coupled with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in individuals with primary progressive aphasia (PPA).

Methods: Twenty-three participants with PPA (mean age 68.13 ± 6.

Effects of Two Alcohol Reduction Interventions on Depression and Anxiety Symptoms of ART Clients in Vietnam.

Little is known about the potential mental health impacts of cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational interviewing interventions that focus on alcohol reduction among people with HIV (PWH). Our study aimed to assess the impact of two evidence-based alcohol reduction interventions on depression and anxiety symptoms of antiretroviral therapy (ART) clients with hazardous alcohol use. We conducted a secondary data analysis of data from a three-arm randomized controlled trial among ART clients in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam that evaluated the impacts of two alcohol reduction interventions in Vietnam.

Longitudinal Analysis of the Effect of Repeated Transarterial Chemoembolization for Liver Cancer on Portal Venous Pressure.

Objectives: Investigate long-term effects of repeated transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) on portal venous pressure (PVP) using non-invasive surrogate markers of portal hypertension.

Methods: Retrospective, Institutional Review Board-approved study. 99 patients [hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) group (n=57); liver metastasis group (n=42)] who underwent 279TACEs and had longitudinal pre-/post-therapy contrast-enhanced-MRI (n=388) and complete blood work were included.

Transarterial Chemoembolization in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Intra-atrial Tumor Extension: Imaging Response and Oncologic Outcomes.

To evaluate outcomes in patients with right atrial (RA) hepatocellular carcinoma extension treated with transarterial chemoembolization. Eight patients were retrospectively reviewed. Follow-up visits occurred at 4-6 weeks; transarterial chemoembolization was repeated if residual tumor persisted.

The longitudinal association between depression, anxiety symptoms and HIV outcomes, and the modifying effect of alcohol dependence among ART clients with hazardous alcohol use in Vietnam.

Introduction: Mental health disorders may negatively impact HIV outcomes, such as viral suppression (VS) and antiretroviral (ART) adherence among people with HIV (PWH) with hazardous alcohol use. This study evaluates the longitudinal association between depression, anxiety symptoms, VS and complete ART adherence among ART clients with hazardous alcohol use in Vietnam; and examines alcohol dependence as a modifier in this association.

Methods: This was a secondary data analysis of a trial for hazardous drinking ART clients in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam.

The method of envelopes to concisely calculate semiparametric efficient scores under parametric restrictions.

When addressing semiparametric problems with parametric restrictions (assumptions on the distribution), the efficient score (ES) of a parameter is often important for generating useful estimates. However, usual derivation of ES, although conceptually simple, is often lengthy and with many steps that do not help in understanding why its final form arises. This drawback often casts onto semiparametric estimation a mantle that can turn away otherwise able doctoral students or researchers.

Evaluating the effects of two alcohol reduction counseling interventions on intimate partner violence perpetration: secondary analysis of a three-arm randomized controlled trial among Vietnamese men with HIV.

Background And Aims: Evidence suggests that alcohol reduction interventions decrease intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration, although this remains untested in low- and middle-income countries and among men with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This study evaluates the effectiveness of alcohol reduction counseling interventions on IPV perpetration among men on anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and tests whether alcohol use explains the intervention effects.

Design: Secondary analysis of data from a three-arm randomized controlled trial among ART patients with hazardous alcohol use.

The Cost-Effectiveness of Adapting and Implementing a Brief Intervention to Target Frequent Alcohol Use Among Persons with HIV in Vietnam.

Brief interventions to reduce frequent alcohol use among persons with HIV (PWH) are evidence-based, but resource-constrained settings must contend with competition for health resources. We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of two intervention arms compared to the standard of care (SOC) in a three-arm randomized control trial targeting frequent alcohol use in PWH through increasing the percent days abstinent from alcohol and viral suppression. We estimated incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained from a modified societal perspective and a 1-year time horizon using a Markov model of health outcomes.

White Matter Integrity Predicts Electrical Stimulation (tDCS) and Language Therapy Effects in Primary Progressive Aphasia.

Background: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), in conjunction with language therapy, improves language therapy outcomes in primary progressive aphasia (PPA). However, no studies show whether white matter integrity predicts language therapy or tDCS effects in PPA.

Objective: We aimed to determine whether white matter integrity, measured by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), predicts written naming/spelling language therapy effects (letter accuracy on trained and untrained words) with and without tDCS over the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) in PPA.

Alcohol use, depressive symptoms, and intimate partner violence perpetration: A longitudinal analysis among men with HIV in northern Vietnam.

Background: While the link between alcohol use and male-perpetrated intimate partner violence (IPV) has been well-established, research is needed to test whether psychosocial factors interact with alcohol use to exacerbate IPV perpetration. We tested whether depressive symptoms influenced the strength and/or direction of the alcohol-IPV relationship among men with HIV in Vietnam.

Methods: This study is a secondary analysis using data from a randomized controlled trial conducted in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam.

Alcohol abstinence stigma and alcohol use among HIV patients in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam.

Background: Hazardous alcohol use is prevalent among people living with HIV (PWH), leading to sub-optimal HIV treatment outcomes. In Vietnam, alcohol use is highly normative making it socially challenging for PWH to reduce or abstain. We used mixed methods to develop a quantitative scale to assess alcohol abstinence stigma and examined the association between alcohol abstinence stigma with alcohol use among PWH in Vietnam.

Effect of 2 Integrated Interventions on Alcohol Abstinence and Viral Suppression Among Vietnamese Adults With Hazardous Alcohol Use and HIV: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Hazardous and heavy alcohol use is common among people living with HIV and may decrease antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence, but limited data exist from randomized clinical trials about the effects of interventions on viral load.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of 2 scalable ART clinic-based interventions on alcohol use and viral suppression.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This 3-group randomized clinical trial was conducted among 440 adults with HIV who were being treated at 7 ART clinics in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam.