No evidence of accelerated epigenetic aging among black heroin users: A case vs control analysis.

This study sought to assess the association between illicit opioid use and accelerated epigenetic aging (A.K.A.

An exploratory follow-up study of cannabis use and decision-making under various risk conditions within adolescence.

Objective: Studies examining the associations between decision-making (DM) and cannabis use (CU) often use cross-sectional, adult samples, and composite scores or single tasks to assess DM. The present study explored differential associations between tasks assessing DM under various risk conditions (i.e.

The effect of changing the military's sexual assault laws on law enforcement investigative findings in the U.S. Army.

Objective: In 2007, Congress changed the military's sexual assault laws as part of an effort to improve sexual assault case processing. This study looked at the U.S.

Risky decision-making as an antecedent or consequence of adolescent cannabis use: findings from a 2-year longitudinal study.

Background And Aims: Although poor decision-making (DM) has been correlated with problematic cannabis use (CU), cross-sectional designs make it difficult to determine whether poor DM represents an antecedent and/or consequence of CU. The current study measured bidirectional associations between CU and DM among adolescents over 2 years and compared these findings to those observed with episodic memory, which is consistently reported as a consequence of CU. We also measured the role of DM as a risk factor for cannabis use disorder (CUD) onset.

Applying an Innovative Model of Disaster Resilience at the Neighborhood Level : The COPEWELL New York City Experience.

Community resilience is a community's ability to maintain functioning (ie, delivery of services) during and after a disaster event. The Composite of Post-Event Well-Being (COPEWELL) is a system dynamics model of community resilience that predicts a community's disaster-specific functioning over time. We explored COPEWELL's usefulness as a practice-based tool for understanding community resilience and to engage partners in identifying resilience-strengthening strategies.

The Role and Function of the Liaison Officer: Lessons Learned and Applied after Superstorm Sandy.

In October 2012, Superstorm Sandy had a wide impact on the public across New York City (NYC). The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) activated its incident command system (ICS) and deployed a liaison officer (LNO) to the NYC Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at NYC Emergency Management (NYCEM) 24 hours a day for 6 weeks. This prolonged response period, coupled with environmental effects on NYC's coastal communities, increased public awareness of Sandy's health impacts, requiring a broad scope of interagency coordination and operational input from the liaison officer.

Public Housing on the Periphery: Vulnerable Residents and Depleted Resilience Reserves post-Hurricane Sandy.

Hurricane Sandy was the greatest natural disaster to ever impact public housing residents in New York City. It affected approximately 80,000 residents in 400 buildings in 33 developments throughout the city. The storm left residents without power, heat, or running water, yet many chose not to evacuate.

Use of Autologous Serum Tears for the Treatment of Ocular Surface Disease From Patients With Systemic Autoimmune Diseases.

Purpose: To describe the safety and efficacy of autologous serum tears (AST) in managing ocular surface disease resistant to conventional therapy in patients with systemic autoimmune disease(s).

Design: Retrospective, interventional case series.

Methods: Records of patients from 2009 to 2015 with systemic autoimmune disease treated with AST (20%-50%) for chronic surface disease were analyzed.

How Community and Public Health Partnerships Contribute to Disaster Recovery and Resilience.

Objective: To summarize ways that networks of community-based organizations (CBO), in partnership with public health departments, contribute to community recovery from disaster.

Methods: The study was conducted using an online survey administered one and 2 years after Hurricane Sandy to the partnership networks of 369 CBO and the New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The survey assessed the structure and durability of networks, how they were influenced by storm damage, and whether more connected networks were associated with better recovery outcomes.

Low Rates of Malignancy and Mortality in Asymptomatic Patients With Suspected Neoplastic Pancreatic Cysts Beyond 5 Years of Surveillance.

Background & Aims: The 2015 American Gastroenterological Association guidelines recommend discontinuation of surveillance of pancreatic cysts after 5 years, although there are limited data to support this recommendation. We aimed to determine the rate of pancreatic cancer development from neoplastic pancreatic cysts after 5 years of surveillance.

Methods: We performed a retrospective multicenter study, collecting data from 310 patients with asymptomatic suspected neoplastic pancreatic cysts, identified by endoscopic ultrasound from January 2002 to June 2010 at 4 medical centers in California.

Pancreatic cysts suspected to be branch duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm without concerning features have low risk for development of pancreatic cancer.

Background: The risk of developing pancreatic cancer is uncertain in patients with clinically suspected branch duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (BD-IPMN) based on the "high-risk stigmata" or "worrisome features" criteria proposed in the 2012 international consensus guidelines ("Fukuoka criteria").

Methods: Retrospective case series involving patients referred for endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) of indeterminate pancreatic cysts with clinical and EUS features consistent with BD-IPMN. Rates of pancreatic cancer occurring at any location in the pancreas were compared between groups of patients with one or more Fukuoka criteria ("Highest-Risk Group", HRG) and those without these criteria ("Lowest-Risk Group", LRG).

Rapid Growth Rates of Suspected Pancreatic Cyst Branch Duct Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms Predict Malignancy.

Background: The majority of branch duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (BD-IPMNs) are recommended for surveillance imaging based on consensus guidelines. However, growth rates that should prompt concern for malignant transformation of BD-IPMN are unknown.

Aims: To determine whether BD-IPMN growth can predict an increased risk of malignancy and define growth rates concerning for malignant BD-IPMN.

Criteria for implementing interventions to reduce health inequalities in primary care settings in European regions.

Background: The current social and political context is generating socio-economic inequalities between and within countries, causing and widening health inequalities. The development and implementation of interventions in primary health care (PHC) settings seem unavoidable. Attempts have been made to draw up adequate criteria to guide and evaluate interventions but none for the specific case of PHC.