Publications by authors named "Jessica Becker"

Article Synopsis
  • Children affected by substance use disorders (SUD) are more likely to enter child welfare systems, and effective interventions should focus on the entire family unit rather than just the individual suffering from SUD.* -
  • This study explored the link between participation in the Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up (ABC) model and the rates of family reunification in cases involving substance use disorders within family treatment courts.* -
  • Results indicated that 74% of children involved in the ABC model were reunified with their biological parents, compared to 57% of those not exposed; biological parent participation significantly increased the likelihood of reunification.*
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Article Synopsis
  • The study develops a high-throughput assay to measure peptides from type III procollagen in human serum, addressing limitations of existing immunoassays used for growth hormone detection.
  • The new method utilizes a combination of immunoaffinity enrichment and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, resulting in good accuracy and precision for quantifying the peptides.
  • While this method shows a decent correlation to a standard immunoassay, significant bias indicates a need for standardized calibrators to improve result consistency across different laboratories.
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Introduction: High tobacco smoking prevalence in people with low SES or serious psychological distress in the U.S. may increase cardiovascular disease risk among these marginalized subpopulations.

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Background: Implementation research generally assumes established evidence-based practices and prior piloting of implementation strategies, which may not be feasible during a public health emergency. We describe the use of a simulation model of the effectiveness of COVID-19 mitigation strategies to inform a stakeholder-engaged process of rapidly designing a tailored intervention and implementation strategy for individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) and intellectual/developmental disabilities (ID/DD) in group homes in a hybrid effectiveness-implementation randomized trial.

Methods: We used a validated dynamic microsimulation model of COVID-19 transmission and disease in late 2020/early 2021 to determine the most effective strategies to mitigate infections among Massachusetts group home staff and residents.

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Background: More than seven million people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (ID/DD) live in the US and may face an elevated risk for COVID-19.

Objective: To identify correlates of COVID-19 and related hospitalizations among people with ID/DD in group homes in Massachusetts.

Methods: We collected data during March 1, 2020-June 30, 2020 (wave 1) and July 1, 2020-March 31, 2021 (wave 2) from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and six organizations administering 206 group homes for 1035 residents with ID/DD.

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Background: Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a fatal cancer of the bile duct with a poor prognosis owing to limited therapeutic options. The incidence of intrahepatic CCA (iCCA) is increasing worldwide, and its molecular basis is emerging. Environmental factors may contribute to regional differences in the mutation spectrum of European patients with iCCA, which are underrepresented in systematic genomic and transcriptomic studies of the disease.

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Introduction: social isolation and forced quarantines during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic coincided with a steep and persistent rise in alcohol consumption among US adults. While the association between loneliness and drinking is well established, less is known about the impact of social isolation (a known correlate of loneliness) and the interplay between these two variables in relation to drinking.

Methods: we recruited US adults using the MTurk platform for an online survey in early April 2020.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Many peptide hormones adopt an α-helix structure when they bind to their receptors, and developing sensitive detection methods could improve disease management.
  • - Researchers are using advanced techniques, like parametric generation and deep learning, to design proteins that can effectively interact with helical peptides, which has been a challenging task.
  • - The study introduces RFdiffusion, an innovative approach that allows for the creation of high-affinity binders for flexible peptide targets, enabling enhanced detection methods such as mass spectrometry and biosensor development.
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Glucagon is generally defined as a counterregulatory hormone with a primary role to raise blood glucose concentrations by increasing endogenous glucose production (EGP) in response to hypoglycemia. However, glucagon has long been known to stimulate insulin release, and recent preclinical findings have supported a paracrine action of glucagon directly on islet β-cells that augments their secretion. In mice, the insulinotropic effect of glucagon is glucose dependent and not present during basal euglycemia.

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This study examined COVID-19 infection and hospitalizations among people with serious mental illness who resided in residential care group homes in Massachusetts during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors analyzed data on 2261 group home residents and COVID-19 data from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Outcomes included positive COVID-19 tests and COVID-19 hospitalizations March 1, 2020-June 30, 2020 (wave 1) and July 1, 2020-March 31, 2021 (wave 2).

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Methylation-sensitive/-dependent restriction enzyme (MSRE/MDRE) PCR can be performed to detect hypomethylated or hypermethylated CpG sites. With the combined use of different tissue-specific CpG markers, MSRE/MDRE-PCR leads to tissue-specific methylation patterns (TSMPs), enabling the correlation of DNA samples to their source tissue. MSRE/MDRE assays can use the same platform as forensic STR typing and offer many advantages in the field of forensic body fluid detection.

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Importance: Direct reports of the experiences of staff working in group homes for people with serious mental illness (SMI) and/or intellectual or developmental disabilities (ID/DD) are rarely reported. Hearing from workers about their experiences in the COVID-19 pandemic may inform future workforce and public policy.

Objective: To gather baseline data on worker experience with the perceived effects of COVID-19 on health and work in the pandemic prior to initiating an intervention to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and to measure differences in worker experience by gender, race, ethnicity, education, and resident population served (persons with SMI and/or IDD/DD).

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Background: Despite its clear advantages over immunoassay-based testing, the measurement of serum thyroglobulin by mass spectrometry remains limited to a handful of institutions. Slow adoption by clinical laboratories could reflect limited accessibility to existing methods that have sensitivity comparable to modern immunoassays, as well as a lack of tools for calibration and assay harmonization.

Methods: We developed and validated a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry-based assay for the quantification of serum thyroglobulin.

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Background: The development of analytical approaches to help reduce the risk of growth hormone (GH) doping is important to fair competition and the health of athletes. However, the reliable detection of GH use remains challenging. The identification of novel biomarkers of GH administration could lead to a better understanding of the physiological response to GH, more sensitive detection of the illicit use of GH in sport, and better management of patients treated for GH disorders.

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Background: Over 20 susceptibility single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) have been identified for esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) and its precursor, Barrett esophagus (BE), explaining a small portion of heritability.

Methods: Using genetic data from 4,323 BE and 4,116 EAC patients aggregated by international consortia including the Barrett's and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Consortium (BEACON), we conducted a comprehensive transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) for BE/EAC, leveraging Genotype Tissue Expression (GTEx) gene-expression data from six tissue types of plausible relevance to EAC etiology: mucosa and muscularis from the esophagus, gastroesophageal (GE) junction, stomach, whole blood, and visceral adipose. Two analytical approaches were taken: standard TWAS using the predicted gene expression from local expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL), and set-based SKAT association using selected eQTLs that predict the gene expression.

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The rising frequency of ART-conceived births is accompanied by the need for an improved understanding of the implications of ART on gametes and embryos. Increasing evidence from mouse models and human epidemiological data suggests that ART procedures may play a role in the pathophysiology of certain imprinting disorders (IDs), including Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, Silver-Russell syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, and Angelman syndrome. The underlying molecular basis of this association, however, requires further elucidation.

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The antitumor efficacy of cancer immunotherapy can correlate with the presence of certain bacterial species within the gut microbiome. However, many of the molecular mechanisms that influence host response to immunotherapy remain elusive. In this study, we show that members of the bacterial genus improve checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy in mouse tumor models.

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Recent studies have suggested that 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) may be a poor biomarker of bone health, in part because measured levels incorporate both protein-bound and free vitamin D. The ratio of its catabolic product (24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [24,25(OH) D]) to 25(OH)D (the vitamin D metabolite ratio [VMR]) may provide more information on sufficient vitamin D stores and is not influenced by vitamin D-binding protein concentrations. We evaluated whether the VMR or 25(OH)D are more strongly associated with bone loss and fracture risk in older adults.

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The agouti viable yellow (A) allele is an insertional mutation in the mouse genome caused by a variably methylated intracisternal A particle (VM-IAP) retrotransposon. A expressivity is sensitive to a range of early-life chemical exposures and nutritional interventions, suggesting that environmental perturbations can have long-lasting effects on the methylome. However, the extent to which VM-IAP elements are environmentally labile with phenotypic implications is unknown.

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Article Synopsis
  • SPTBN1 gene encodes βII-spectrin, crucial for forming networks at plasma membranes, and its deficiency in mice leads to significant neurodevelopmental issues.
  • Heterozygous variants of SPTBN1 were identified in 29 individuals exhibiting a range of developmental challenges, including intellectual disabilities, language delays, and autistic features.
  • These variants weaken βII-spectrin stability and disrupt cellular organization, establishing SPTBN1 as a key contributor to certain neurodevelopmental syndromes.
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Spreading rapidly across the United States beginning in the spring of 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic radically disrupted Americans' lives. Previous studies of community-wide disasters suggested people are fairly resilient and identified resources and strategies that promote that resilience. Yet, the COVID-19 pandemic is in some ways unique, with high levels of uncertainty, evolving implications and restrictions, and varied and uneven impacts.

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Background: In case of oligo-recurrent prostate cancer (PC) following prostatectomy, Ga-PSMA-PET/CT can be used to detect a specific site of recurrence and to initiate metastasis-directed radiation therapy (MDT). However, large heterogeneities exist concerning doses, treatment fields and radiation techniques, with some studies reporting focal radiotherapy (RT) to PSMA-PET/CT positive lesions only and other studies using elective RT strategies. We aimed to compare oncological outcomes and toxicity between PET/CT-directed RT (PDRT) and PDRT plus elective RT (eRT; i.

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We sought to understand the association between heavy alcohol and frequent drug use and non-adherence to recommended social distancing and personal hygiene guidelines for preventing the spread of COVID-19 early in the US pandemic. A survey was offered on the crowdsourcing platform, Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) during April 2020 (the early days of strict, social distancing restrictions). The study included 1,521 adults ages 18 years and older who resided in the US and were enrolled as MTurk workers, i.

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In the current opioid overdose epidemic, treatment retention among clients receiving medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid dependence is a significant and growing concern among treatment providers, policymakers, and researchers. We examined a sample of clients enrolled in a federally funded MAT expansion program implemented in four sites in Connecticut. Program participants received MAT for their opioid use disorders (OUDs).

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