Development and Validation of the Veteran Military Occupational and Environmental Exposure Assessment Tool.

Introduction: Military exposures may present a cumulative load and increased individual susceptibility to negative health outcomes. Currently, there are no comprehensive and validated environmental exposure assessment tools covering the full spectrum of occupational and environmental exposures for Veterans. The Veterans Affairs (VA) War Related Illness and Injury Study Center in Washington, DC, developed the Veteran Military Occupational and Environmental Exposure Assessment Tool (VMOAT) to establish a structured, comprehensive self-report tool that captures military and non-military occupational and environmental exposures.

Mental Health and Cognition in Women Veterans Enrolled in the Health of Vietnam Era Veteran Women's Study (HealthViEWS).

This analysis explored relationships between mental health symptoms and conditions and cognitive function in a cohort of Vietnam-era women veterans from the Health of Vietnam Era Veteran Women's Study (HealthViEWS). Vietnam-era women veterans completed a mail survey assessing self-reported symptom severity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. A telephone-based structured interview assessed mental health conditions and cognitive function (telephone interview for cognitive status [TICS]).

Investigating a clinically informed sleep disturbance threshold for physical and mental health among Gulf War Illness veterans.

Study Objectives: This study (1) assessed sleep quality and health in Gulf War veterans (GWV) meeting the Gulf War Illness (GWI) criteria and (2) compared health associations for both those meeting a "clinically disturbed sleep" threshold, and those below, as determined by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) cutoff for military populations (≥10) on measures of physical, mental, and cognitive health.

Methods: Participant data consisted of questionnaires and assessments completed prior to group assignment in a clinical trial. The sample consisted of 147 GWV, where 81.

A regulatory pathway model of neuropsychological disruption in Havana syndrome.

Introduction: In 2016 diplomatic personnel serving in Havana, Cuba, began reporting audible sensory phenomena paired with onset of complex and persistent neurological symptoms consistent with brain injury. The etiology of these Anomalous Health Incidents (AHI) and subsequent symptoms remains unknown. This report investigates putative exposure-symptom pathology by assembling a network model of published bio-behavioral pathways and assessing how dysregulation of such pathways might explain loss of function in these subjects using data available in the published literature.

'She thought the same way I that I thought:' a qualitative study of patient-provider concordance among Gulf War Veterans with Gulf War Illness.

Medically unexplained symptoms (MUS), such as chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, and Gulf War Illness (GWI), are difficult to treat. Concordance-shared understanding between patient and provider about illness causes, course, and treatment-is an essential component of high-quality care for people with MUS. This qualitative paper focuses on the experiences of United States military Veterans living with GWI who have endured unique healthcare challenges.

Gulf War Illness: A Randomized Controlled Trial Combining Mindfulness Meditation and Auricular Acupuncture.

Background: Many Gulf War (GW) Veterans report chronic symptoms including pain, fatigue, and cognitive impairment, commonly defined as Gulf War Illness (GWI). Complementary and integrative health (CIH) therapies may potentially improve multiple symptoms of GWI.

Objective: To examine the effectiveness of combining 2 commonly available CIH therapies, mindfulness meditation and auricular acupuncture, in improving health-related functioning and multiple symptom domains of GWI (e.

Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) Clinical Normative Data for Gulf War Veterans.

Objective: Heterogenous test batteries and methods applied in neurocognitive research on Gulf War Veterans (GWVs) limit the translation of findings to clinical practice. A clinical data set is necessary.

Methods: Neurocognitive screening data from treatment-seeking GWVs were collected from multiple sites and compiled, informed by consideration of performance validity.

Mapping the network biology of metabolic response to stress in posttraumatic stress disorder and obesity.

The co-occurrence of stress-induced posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and obesity is common, particularly among military personnel but the link between these conditions is unclear. Individuals with comorbid PTSD and obesity manifest other physical and psychological problems, which significantly diminish their quality of life. Current understanding of the pathways connecting stress to PTSD and obesity is focused largely on behavioral mediators alone with little consideration of the biological regulatory mechanisms that underlie their co-occurrence.

A Cross-sectional Cohort Study to Assess Long-term Neurocognitive and Psychiatric Symptoms of Mefloquine Use in Veterans.

Introduction: To evaluate the associations between neurocognitive and psychiatric health outcomes with mefloquine or any antimalarial exposure.

Materials And Methods: Medical records were systematically reviewed to identify veterans that indicated antimalarial medication use. Linear regression was performed to examine associations between mefloquine/antimalarial exposure and health outcomes.

A common language for Gulf War Illness (GWI) research studies: GWI common data elements.

Aims: The Gulf War Illness programs (GWI) of the United States Department of Veteran Affairs and the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program collaborated with experts to develop Common Data Elements (CDEs) to standardize and systematically collect, analyze, and share data across the (GWI) research community.

Main Methods: A collective working group of GWI advocates, Veterans, clinicians, and researchers convened to provide consensus on instruments, case report forms, and guidelines for GWI research. A similar initiative, supported by the National Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) was completed for a comparative illness, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), and provided the foundation for this undertaking.

The relationship between Gulf War Illness symptom severity and heart rate variability: A pilot study.

Introduction: Gulf War Illness (GWI) is a chronic multisymptom illness affecting 250,000+ veterans of the '90-'91 Gulf War which remains under-explored in terms of its physiological characteristics. We investigated whether subjective GWI symptom severity scores were related to objective measures of autonomic nervous system activity.

Methods: We estimated activity in the two major branches of the autonomic nervous system (the parasympathetic nervous system [PNS] and the sympathetic nervous system [SNS]) via metrics of heart rate variability in a sample of Veterans who met established criteria for GWI with varying degrees of self-reported symptom severity.

Impact of Wartime Stress Exposures and Mental Health on Later-Life Functioning and Disability in Vietnam-Era Women Veterans: Findings From the Health of Vietnam-Era Women's Study.

Objective: The effect of stress exposures and mental health sequelae on health-related outcomes is understudied among older women veterans. We examined a) the impact of wartime stress exposures on later-life functioning and disability in Vietnam-era women veterans and b) the extent to which mental health conditions known to be associated with stress-posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD), and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)-are associated with additional later-life functioning and disability.

Methods: Data were collected in 2011 to 2012 using a mail survey and telephone interview of 4219 women veterans who were active duty during the Vietnam Era.

Synthesis and Pharmacological Characterization of 2-(2,6-Dichlorophenyl)-1-((1,3)-5-(3-hydroxy-3-methylbutyl)-3-(hydroxymethyl)-1-methyl-3,4-dihydroisoquinolin-2(1)-yl)ethan-1-one (LY3154207), a Potent, Subtype Selective, and Orally Available Positive Allosteric Modulator of the Human Dopamine D1 Receptor.

Clinical development of catechol-based orthosteric agonists of the dopamine D1 receptor has thus far been unsuccessful due to multiple challenges. To address these issues, we identified LY3154207 () as a novel, potent, and subtype selective human D1 positive allosteric modulator (PAM) with minimal allosteric agonist activity. Conformational studies showed LY3154207 adopts an unusual boat conformation, and a binding pose with the human D1 receptor was proposed based on this observation.

Social rehabilitation for military veterans with traumatic brain injury, psychological trauma, and chronic neuropsychiatric symptoms: Intervention development and initial outcomes.

Objective: A subset of military veterans who have experienced both traumatic brain injury and psychological trauma present with chronic neuropsychiatric symptoms and experience persistent obstacles to social reintegration. This project aimed to develop a novel treatment targeting the unmet social rehabilitation needs of these veterans. Initial intervention development, feasibility, and outcome data are explored.

Veteran participation in the integrative health and wellness program: Impact on self-reported mental and physical health outcomes.

Complementary and integrative health (CIH) services are being used more widely across the nation, including in both military and veteran hospital settings. Literature suggests that a variety of CIH services show promise in treating a wide range of physical and mental health disorders. Notably, the Department of Veterans Affairs is implementing CIH services within the context of a health care transformation, changing from disease based health care to a personalized, proactive, patient-centered approach where the veteran, not the disease, is at the center of care.

Assessment of a Revised Wartime Experiences Scale for Vietnam-Era Women: The Health of Vietnam-Era Women's Study (HealthViEWS).

Purpose: Few wartime experiences scales capture unique issues related to women's service, address their military roles, or have been validated with women. The Women's Wartime Stressor Scale was developed for use with women who served during the Vietnam era, primarily as nurses in Vietnam. We revised this measure by modifying existing items, adding new items, and revising response formats to create a scale less nursing specific and nondeployment specific, and conducted a preliminary assessment of the revised scale.

Neuropsychological measurement of inhibitory control in posttraumatic stress disorder: An exploratory antisaccade paradigm.

Objective: The aim of the study was to uncover inhibitory control dynamics and assess antisaccade eye-tracking tasks for relevance in a veteran posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) population.

Method: Participants were 36 veterans enrolled at the Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The groups (PTSD diagnosed vs.

An Allosteric Potentiator of the Dopamine D1 Receptor Increases Locomotor Activity in Human D1 Knock-In Mice without Causing Stereotypy or Tachyphylaxis.

Allosteric potentiators amplify the sensitivity of physiologic control circuits, a mode of action that could provide therapeutic advantages. This hypothesis was tested with the dopamine D1 receptor potentiator DETQ [2-(2,6-dichlorophenyl)-1-((1S,3R)-3-(hydroxymethyl)-5-(2-hydroxypropan-2-yl)-1-methyl-3,4-dihydroisoquinolin-2(1H)-yl)ethan-1-one]. In human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cells expressing the human D1 receptor, DETQ induced a 21-fold leftward shift in the cAMP response to dopamine, with a K of 26 nM.

A Pilot Study of Interpersonal Psychotherapy for PTSD in Women Veterans.

Objective: This pilot study aimed to determine whether interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) would be effective with a sample of women veterans who experienced military-related PTSD.

Method: Women veterans presenting for mental health services through the Trauma Services Program at the Washington, DC, Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) were referred to the study by Veterans Affairs (VA) clinicians if they experienced trauma during their military service and scored > 35 on the PTSD Checklist-Military Version. A total of 20 women completed a baseline assessment and were referred to treatment, the first trial of this treatment method with a veteran sample.

The influence of physical and mental health symptoms on Veterans' functional health status.

Veterans who have been deployed to combat often have complex medical histories including some combination of traumatic brain injury (TBI); mental health problems; and other chronic, medically unexplained symptoms (i.e., chronic multisymptom illness [CMI] clusters).

The Integrative Health and Wellness Program: Development and Use of a Complementary and Alternative Medicine Clinic for Veterans.

Context: A movement exists within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) toward incorporating complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as an integrative complement to care for veterans. The Integrative Health and Wellness (IHW) Program is a comprehensive CAM clinic offering services such as integrative restoration (iRest) yoga nidra, individual acupuncture, group auricular acupuncture, chair yoga, qigong, and integrative health education.

Objectives: The current study intended to detail the development of the CAM program, its use, and the characteristics of the program's participants.

Prevalence of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Vietnam-Era Women Veterans: The Health of Vietnam-Era Women's Study (HealthVIEWS).

Importance: Many Vietnam-era women veterans served in or near war zones and may have experienced stressful or traumatic events during their service. Although posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is well studied among men who served in Vietnam, no major epidemiologic investigation of PTSD among women has been performed.

Objectives: To assess (1) the onset and prevalence of lifetime and current PTSD for women who served during the Vietnam era, stratified by wartime location (Vietnam, near Vietnam, or the United States), and (2) the extent to which wartime location was associated with PTSD, with adjustment for demographics, service characteristics, and wartime exposures.

Synthesis and Pharmacological Characterization of C4-(Thiotriazolyl)-substituted-2-aminobicyclo[3.1.0]hexane-2,6-dicarboxylates. Identification of (1R,2S,4R,5R,6R)-2-Amino-4-(1H-1,2,4-triazol-3-ylsulfanyl)bicyclo[3.1.0]hexane-2,6-dicarboxylic Acid (LY2812223), a Highly Potent, Functionally Selective mGlu2 Receptor Agonist.

Identification of orthosteric mGlu(2/3) receptor agonists capable of discriminating between individual mGlu2 and mGlu3 subtypes has been highly challenging owing to the glutamate-site sequence homology between these proteins. Herein we detail the preparation and characterization of a series of molecules related to (1S,2S,5R,6S)-2-aminobicyclo[3.1.