Publications by authors named "McFarland M"

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  • * By analyzing blood-lead level data and its correlation with mental health outcomes from 1940 to 2015, the researchers estimate significant increases in general psychopathology and specific symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and AD/HD.
  • * The results indicate that exposure to lead has likely caused 151 million excess mental disorders, particularly affecting Generation X (born 1966-1986), with noticeable changes in personality traits like Neuroticism and Conscientiousness.
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Water from the Lake Okeechobee watershed historically flowed south through the Everglades. Hydrologic alterations created the Lake Okeechobee Waterway, where lake water is periodically shunted east to the St. Lucie Estuary (C-44 canal) and west to the Caloosahatchee River and Estuary (C-43 canal).

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Many lines of research have suggested that the neuroactive pregnane steroids, including pregnenolone, progesterone, and allopregnanolone ([3α,5α]-3-hydroxypregnan-20-one, 3α,5α-THP), have therapeutic potential for treatment of alcohol use disorders (AUDs). In this chapter, we systematically address the preclinical and clinical evidence that supports this approach for AUD treatment, describe the underlying neurobiology of AUDs that are targeted by these treatments, and delineate how pregnane steroids may address various components of the disease. This review updates the theoretical framework for understanding how endogenous steroids that modulate the effects of alcohol, stress, excitatory/inhibitory and dopamine transmission, and the innate immune system appear to play a key role in the prevention and mitigation of AUDs.

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Introduction: The Implementation Research Logic Model (IRLM) aids users in combining, organizing, and specifying the relationships between important constructs in implementation research. The goal of the IRLM is to improve the rigor, reproducibility, and transparency of implementation research projects. The article describing the IRLM was published September 25, 2020 (, Vol 15); it has since been highly cited and included as a required element in multiple funding opportunity announcements from federal agencies.

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  • Short bowel syndrome (SBS) is a serious condition that can make people very sick, but adjusting how the intestines work can help improve health.
  • Researchers studied tiny samples of human intestines from mice with SBS to find out which genes are involved in how the intestines adapt.
  • They discovered that zinc can help SBS mice survive better and gain weight, and they think zinc could be a possible treatment for people with SBS too.
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  • * The study aims to review existing literature on these practices and their effects on Nigerian women both in Nigeria and the US, guiding future research directions.
  • * Key findings reveal seven themes related to the treatment of widows, poverty, the influence of culture, and various health-related issues, highlighting the need for more research in the Nigerian American community.
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Background: A pilot simulation was implemented at a private university school of nursing to provide an opportunity for family nurse practitioner (FNP) students to apply their knowledge of assessing and addressing social determinants of health (SDOH).

Method: The Social Needs Screening Tool (SNST), developed by the American Academy of Family Physicians, and SDOH content were incorporated into a tele-health simulation-based learning experience. Using Zoom [Zoom Video Communications, Inc.

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  • Lifestyle interventions, like diet and exercise, can improve physical function in younger cancer survivors (<60 years), but their effects on older survivors (≥60 years) are less understood.
  • This scoping review analyzed existing research on diet and exercise's impact on physical function in older cancer survivors, reviewing 49 relevant studies out of nearly 20,000 articles.
  • While most studies showed that these interventions helped maintain or boost physical function, the review highlighted gaps in research, such as the need for more focused trials on older survivors, particularly regarding diet and exercise combined.
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Branched ubiquitin (Ub) chains constitute a sizable fraction of Ub polymers in human cells. Despite their abundance, our understanding of branched Ub function in cell signaling has been stunted by the absence of accessible methods and tools. Here we identify cellular branched-chain-specific binding proteins and devise approaches to probe K48-K63-branched Ub function.

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Unlabelled: During COVID-19 in the US, social determinants of health (SDH) have driven health disparities. However, the use of SDH in COVID-19 vaccine modeling is unclear. This review aimed to summarize the current landscape of incorporating SDH into COVID-19 vaccine transmission modeling in the US.

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Pregnane neuroactive steroids, notably allopregnanolone and pregnenolone, exhibit efficacy in mitigating inflammatory signals triggered by toll-like receptor (TLR) activation, thus attenuating the production of inflammatory factors. Clinical studies highlight their therapeutic potential, particularly in conditions like postpartum depression (PPD), where the FDA-approved compound brexanolone, an intravenous formulation of allopregnanolone, effectively suppresses TLR-mediated inflammatory pathways, predicting symptom improvement. Additionally, pregnane neurosteroids exhibit trophic and anti-inflammatory properties, stimulating the production of vital trophic proteins and anti-inflammatory factors.

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  • Anticoagulation therapy is commonly used for conditions like atrial fibrillation and venous thromboembolism, but there's a potential gap in its equitable delivery across different ethnoracial groups in the U.S.
  • A scoping review examined studies from 2011 to 2022, analyzing over 5,000 articles to assess issues such as access to therapy, management quality, and clinical outcomes among distinct ethnoracial groups.
  • The findings indicated significant disparities, showing that White patients generally had better access and outcomes from anticoagulation therapy compared to non-White patients, particularly in terms of access and management quality.
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Recognizing the inequities in developmental screening and services for children in immigrant families, a pediatric primary care clinic in partnership with a community-based early childhood program co-created a bicultural, bilingual early childhood developmental (ECD) family navigator program in Seattle, Washington. The primary aim of this study is to explore caregivers' perspectives about this program. Twenty-seven caregivers of young children participated in semi-structured interviews that were thematically analyzed.

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Objectives: To describe the efficacy of atropine in controlling salivary flow in patients with sialorrhea or drooling.

Materials And Methods: We included randomized controlled studies, quasi-randomized trials, case reports, clinical trials, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses assessing the use of atropine in patients with sialorrhea or drooling. The endpoints were reduction in salivary flow rate, amount of saliva secreted, reduction in clinical symptoms of sialorrhea, death rattle intensity, or reduction in drooling intensity as measured by an objective scale such as the drooling intensity scale.

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  • The study examined how cocaine affects levels of allopregnanolone (a neuroactive steroid) in rats, hypothesizing that acute use increases and repeated use decreases these levels.
  • Acute cocaine administration resulted in increased allopregnanolone levels specifically in the midbrain, but not in other brain regions, with females showing higher levels than males overall.
  • The findings indicate that allopregnanolone levels differ by sex and brain region, potentially influencing how males and females respond to cocaine.
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  • College students facing poverty, particularly those from non-white racial or ethnic backgrounds, are more likely to struggle academically due to grief from the loss of loved ones, yet research specifically exploring this intersection is lacking.
  • The study aims to map existing literature on the experiences of these students, focusing on how poverty and grief impact academic performance and degree completion.
  • A scoping review will be conducted to identify relevant studies and interventions from various geographic settings, using a systematic framework to ensure thorough analysis and documentation of findings.
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Background: Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a relatively uncommon condition characterized by 2 exceedingly common phenomena in hospitalized patients: thrombocytopenia and heparin exposure. Consequently, HIT is frequently overdiagnosed and inappropriately treated. These issues are the focus of many quality improvement (QI) initiatives.

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The Indian River Lagoon (IRL), a 156-mile-long estuary located on the eastern coast of Florida, experiences phytoplankton bloom events due to increased seasonal temperatures coupled with anthropogenic impacts. This study aimed to gather data on the toxicity to human cells and to identify secondary metabolites found in water samples collected in the IRL. Water samples from 20 sites of the IRL were collected during the wet and dry seasons over a three-year period.

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  • US Veterans have a significantly higher risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and the COPD CARE program aims to enhance care delivery specifically for them through improved implementation strategies.
  • The COPD CARE Academy was developed to help scale these strategies in the Veterans' Health Administration, using a mixed-methods evaluation to measure the effectiveness of its implementation.
  • Results showed that participation in the Academy led to high attendance and resource utilization among clinicians, resulting in a marked increase in their confidence to perform necessary implementation tasks related to COPD care.
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This investigation was undertaken to characterize health effects associated with a major bloom of blue-green algae due to the proliferation Microcystis aeruginosa that occurred in Florida in 2018. Cyanobacteria produce multiple toxins, including the potent hepatotoxic microcystins (MCs), that have been reported to cause illness in exposed persons worldwide. Widespread exposure to toxins released by blue-green algae during the 2018 bloom was shown by the presence of MCs in the nasal passages of 95 percent of the individuals studied previously in south Florida (Schaefer et al.

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Objective: Surveillance algorithms that predict patient decompensation are increasingly integrated with clinical workflows to help identify patients at risk of in-hospital deterioration. This scoping review aimed to identify the design features of the information displays, the types of algorithm that drive the display, and the effect of these displays on process and patient outcomes.

Materials And Methods: The scoping review followed Arksey and O'Malley's framework.

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  • The study aimed to evaluate how effective intradiscal corticosteroid injections (IDCI) are for treating low back pain linked to disc issues.
  • It involved adults with chronic pain, using either real injections or placebo treatments for comparison, assessing outcomes like pain reduction and disability.
  • The review found that IDCI can reduce pain for 1-6 months in certain patients (with Modic 1 and 2 changes), but overall, the evidence quality is low.
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The neurosteroid 3α,5α-THP is a potent GABA receptor-positive modulator and its regulatory action on the HPA axis stress response has been reported in numerous preclinical and clinical studies. We previously demonstrated that 3α,5α-THP down-regulation of HPA axis activity during stress is sex-, brain region- and stressor-dependent. In this study, we observed a deleterious submersion behavior in response to 3α,5α-THP (15 mg/kg) during forced swim stress (FSS) that led us to investigate how 3α,5α-THP might affect behavioral coping strategies engaged in by the animal.

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Using the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 785), this article considers the ramifications of police use of racial slurs, a type of intrusive behavior, toward minority youth for posttraumatic stress (PTS). We also examine whether other intrusive police behaviors exacerbate this relationship and test whether perceptions of injustice mediate it. Results indicated that hearing a police officer use a racial slur was positively associated with PTS after controlling for intrusive police behaviors and other covariates.

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  • U.S. Veterans are at a significantly higher risk for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and the COPD CARE program was developed to improve care delivery for them.
  • The COPD CARE Academy was created to help implement this program more effectively within the Veterans' Health Administration, using a set of strategies to enhance clinician capabilities.
  • The evaluation showed promising results, with high completion rates of the Academy, positive feedback from clinicians, and a significant increase in their ability to perform key implementation tasks after participating in the program.
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