Psychopharmacology (Berl)
March 2022
The bench-to-bedside development of pro-cognitive therapeutics for psychiatric disorders has been mired by translational failures. This is, in part, due to the absence of pharmacologically sensitive cognitive biomarkers common to humans and rodents. Here, we describe a cross-species translational marker of reward processing that is sensitive to the aminergic agonist, d-amphetamine.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere has been a fundamental failure to translate preclinically supported research into clinically efficacious treatments for psychiatric disorders. One of the greatest impediments toward improving this species gap has been the difficulty of identifying translatable neurophysiological signals that are related to specific behavioral constructs. Here, we present evidence from three paradigms that were completed by humans and mice using analogous procedures, with each task eliciting candidate a priori defined electrophysiological signals underlying effortful motivation, reinforcement learning, and cognitive control.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is less common in African Americans (AA) than Caucasians (C) despite a higher prevalence of risk factors such as hypertension (HTN).
Objective: Test the hypothesis that differences in extracellular matrix (ECM) between AA and C in response to HTN might attenuate atrial enlargement and alter myocardial fibrosis.
Methods: ECM-related plasma biomarkers and echo data were collected from 326 C and 129 AA subjects with no history of AF, stratified by the presence of HTN, HTN with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), or HTN with LVH and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).
Background: Adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) have been considered potentially high risk for novel coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) mortality or other complications.
Objectives: This study sought to define the impact of COVID-19 in adults with CHD and to identify risk factors associated with adverse outcomes.
Methods: Adults (age 18 years or older) with CHD and with confirmed or clinically suspected COVID-19 were included from CHD centers worldwide.
Background: The smoking of illicit drugs presents a serious social and economic burden in Canada. People who smoke drugs (PWSD) are at increased risk of contracting multiple infections through risky drug practices. Peer-led harm reduction activities, and the resulting social networks that form around them, can potentially minimize the dangers associated with the smoking illicit drugs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA systematic investigation examining the origins of structural distortions in rutile-related ternary uranium UO oxides using a combination of high-resolution structural and spectroscopic measurements supported by calculations is presented. The structures of β-CdUO, MnUO, CoUO, and MgUO are determined at high precision by using a combination of neutron powder diffraction (NPD) and synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction (S-XRD) or single crystal X-ray diffraction. The structure of β-CdUO is best described by space group whereas MnUO, CoUO, and MgUO are described by the lower symmetry space group and are isostructural with the previously reported β-NiUO [Murphy et al.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe mechanistic effects of long-term γ irradiation on the mineralogical, microstructural, structural, physical, and chemical properties of 40 wt% blast furnace slag + 60 wt% fly ash geopolymer pastes have been examined. Ambient curing for 28 days during normal equilibration was followed by exposure to Co irradiation (1574, 4822, 10,214 kGy). The material characteristics are controlled largely through the competing mechanisms of beneficial equilibration at initial lower dosages, which enhances gelation and crosslinking, and detrimental equilibration at subsequent higher dosages, which causes structural and microstructural destabilisation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic forced governments around the world to impose restrictions on daily life to prevent the spread of the virus. This resulted in unprecedented reductions in anthropogenic activity, and reduced emissions of certain air pollutants, namely oxides of nitrogen. The UK 'lockdown' was enforced on 23/03/2020, which led to restrictions on movement, social interaction, and 'non-essential' businesses and services.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPatients with congenitally-corrected transposition of the great arteries (ccTGA) commonly develop significant systemic tricuspid valve regurgitation and systemic right ventricular dysfunction in adulthood, both of which presenting a therapeutic dilemma for the care team. Here we describe the case of a 35-year-old male with congenitally-corrected transposition of the great arteries who presented with severe systemic tricuspid valve regurgitation, biventricular systolic failure, and pulmonary hypertension. Due to prohibitive surgical risk, he underwent percutaneous tricuspid valve repair via MitraClip placement.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: People who smoke drugs (PWSD) are at high risk of both infectious disease and overdose. Harm reduction activities organized by their peers in the community can reduce risk by providing education, safer smoking supplies, and facilitate access to other services. Peers also provide a network of people who provide social support to PWSD which may reinforce harm reducing behaviors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a devastating stroke type that lacks effective treatments. An imaging biomarker of ICH expansion-the computed tomography (CT) angiography spot sign-may identify a subgroup that could benefit from hemostatic therapy.
Objective: To investigate whether recombinant activated coagulation factor VII (rFVIIa) reduces hemorrhage expansion among patients with spot sign-positive ICH.
Participation of health-care professionals in online health communities is essential for these communities to achieve their goals of improving health outcomes. However, little research has been conducted to understand what motivates health-care providers to participate in such communities. This study utilizes the expectancy/value theory to identify the factors that might affect health professionals' intentions to continue contributing health knowledge in online health communities (OHCs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFScimitar syndrome is a rare congenital abnormality resulting from right-sided pulmonary venous return to the inferior vena cava rather than to the left atrium. It is usually detected in early childhood with symptoms of recurrent chest infection and finding of pulmonary hypertension due to left to right shunt. We report a case of a 40-year-old woman with scimitar syndrome discovered on chest X-ray during evaluation of recurrent pneumonia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, we present a new concept based on the steady-state, laser-induced photoluminescence of Nd, which aims at a direct determination of the amorphous fraction in monazite- and xenotime-type orthophosphates on a micrometer scale. Polycrystalline, cold-pressed, sintered LaPO, and YPO ceramics were exposed to quadruple Au-ion irradiation with ion energies 35 MeV (50% of the respective total fluence), 22 MeV (21%), 14 MeV (16%), and 7 MeV (13%). Total irradiation fluences were varied in the range 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPeople who use drugs (PWUD) frequently have complex health care needs, yet face multiple barriers to accessing services. Involving PWUD in health service design and evaluation can enhance the quality of data collected and ensure policy and practice improvements reflect the expressed needs of the population. However, PWUD remain largely excluded from the evaluation of health services that directly affect their lives, including development of patient-reported experience measures (PREMS) that have gained prominence in health services research and clinical practice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo date, the majority of environmental assets studied in the economic valuation literature clearly have high amenity and recreational use values. However there are many cases where small, but nevertheless unique and important, ecosystems survive as islands amongst large areas of modified, productive, or urban, landscapes. Development encroaches on the landscape and as urban landscapes become more concentrated these types of conservation islands will become increasingly more important.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Risks associated with teen sexting draw increasing concern from teachers and communities as developments in communication software and devices make sharing private content faster and simpler each year. We examined rates, recipients, and predictors of teen sexting to better plan education and preventative policies and strategies. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to determine the most likely predictors of teen sexting using prior survey studies and theoretical conceptions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealth Syst (Basingstoke)
January 2018
Health infomediary systems are emerging as important knowledge sharing platforms that help patients manage their own health outside of traditional health care delivery models. Patients participate in health infomediaries to learn from other patients' experiences and knowledge. Knowledge sharing is an important aspect of the success of a health infomediary.
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