Practical Advice for Addressing Adolescent Relationship Violence During Clinical Encounters.

Adolescent relationship violence (ARV) is associated with a host of negative health outcomes that can impact individuals across the lifespan. This second article in a two-part series provides clinical context for ARV to assist clinicians who are caring for adolescents and offers practical advice based on current recommendations. Communicating with teens and families about confidentiality and mandated reporting requirements is paramount, and providers must be familiar with documentation and legal nuances.

Clinicians' Primer on the Epidemiology of Adolescent Relationship Violence.

Adolescent relationship violence (ARV) is the use of coercive, controlling, and violent behavior within romantic adolescent relationships. It presents with patterned behaviors that occur in a cyclic fashion. ARV is common across all demographics and encompasses modalities such as physical, sexual, psychological, digital and financial abuse; reproductive coercion, and stalking.

Physician Assistants' Training and Self-Perceived Competencies to Work with Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence.

Introduction: The purpose of this research was to assess physician assistant (PA) education and training on the diagnosis, management, and treatment of survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), as well as perceived current vs. desired skills in tasks related to the management and treatment of IPV.

Methods: Participants in 2 studies included a convenience sample of attendees at an annual PA conference (study 1) and PAs in the United States who were randomly selected to be administered an online survey related to their PA practice (study 2).

Beyond roofies: Drug- and alcohol-facilitated sexual assault.

Substance use in victims of sexual assault, whether voluntary or involuntary, changes the aftermath and recovery process significantly, affecting the way memories are processed and recalled, the chances of developing significant mental health complications, and the disclosure reactions that the survivor receives. Clinicians must understand these differences in order to provide the best possible care to survivors. This article provides an overview of these topics, detailing some of the nuances of interviewing, testing, and the physiology of memory formation and how that affects the outcomes of prosecution in these crimes.

Helping survivors of sexual assault.

Sexual assault is a widespread problem in US communities, affecting about one in every three women and one in every eight men. These assaults reverberate through the lives of survivors and their loved ones, often for decades or even a lifetime. Healthcare providers must be empowered and equipped to contribute to the medical and mental health of survivors.

Using PAs in prehospital environments to reduce ED and EMS overuse.

Emergency medical services (EMS) and EDs in large cities are burdened with a significant number of patients with chronic disease who have limited options for receiving proper care. Despite their relatively small numbers, these "superusers" can have a significant effect on EMS, particularly in large cities. Additionally, EDs are not designed to provide chronic and continuous healthcare.

Receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase sigma regulates synapse structure, function and plasticity.

The mechanisms that regulate synapse formation and maintenance are incompletely understood. In particular, relatively few inhibitors of synapse formation have been identified. Receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase σ (RPTPσ), a transmembrane tyrosine phosphatase, is widely expressed by neurons in developing and mature mammalian brain, and functions as a receptor for chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans that inhibits axon regeneration following injury.

Randomized trial of omalizumab (anti-IgE) for asthma in inner-city children.

Background: Research has underscored the effects of exposure and sensitization to allergens on the severity of asthma in inner-city children. It has also revealed the limitations of environmental remediation and guidelines-based therapy in achieving greater disease control.

Methods: We enrolled inner-city children, adolescents, and young adults with persistent asthma in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group trial at multiple centers to assess the effectiveness of omalizumab, as compared with placebo, when added to guidelines-based therapy.

Developmental shift in expression of netrin receptors in the rat spinal cord: predominance of UNC-5 homologues in adulthood.

Netrins are a family of secreted proteins required for normal neural development. Netrin-1 is expressed at similar levels in the adult rat spinal cord and the embryonic CNS, suggesting that it contributes to adult CNS function. Here we show that the netrin receptors dcc, neogenin, unc5h1, unc5h2, and unc5h3 are also expressed in the adult rat spinal cord.

Netrin-1 is a chemorepellent for oligodendrocyte precursor cells in the embryonic spinal cord.

Netrin-1, secreted by floor plate cells, orients axon extension in relation to the ventral midline of the embryonic spinal cord. Oligodendrocyte precursor (OP) cells are born close to the ventral midline and migrate away from the floor plate. Here we show that OP cells, identified by expression of the platelet-derived growth factor alpha receptor, express the netrin receptors dcc and unc5h1 but do not express netrin-1.