Publications by authors named "Melissa Bates"

Climate-related disasters pose significant risks to mental health and well-being globally. Individuals from disaster-prone regions, such as Puerto Rico, are at even greater risk. The devastating effects of recurrent hurricanes, compounded with pre-existing structural disparities (e.

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Research suggests that forced migration may lead to cultural stress and psychological distress. However, little is known about immigrant parents' pre- and post-migration concerns for their children's welfare. The present study examined the concerns of Venezuelan parents who migrated to the United States versus those who migrated to Colombia, and whether post-migration concerns were related to cultural stressors, mental health, and cultural identity.

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Urethane is widely used for its ability to induce prolonged anesthesia. Variability in previously reported cardiovascular parameters in murine models makes it challenging to definitively evaluate the cardiovascular effects of urethane anesthesia. We aimed to address these challenges, thereby advancing our understanding of urethane's effects on cardiovascular function in mice.

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Purpose: It is important to understand racial inequities in multiple myeloma treatment and survival, particularly in the Midwest where clear differences exist in cancer incidence and mortality. Since age and geographic location can greatly impact treatment and prognosis, matching patients on these characteristics can help identify reasons for outcome differences.

Methods: Retrospective data from the Iowa Cancer Registry's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database were analyzed for adult patients diagnosed with first primary MM between 1/1/2010-12/31/2019.

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Background: Since 2015, ~ 8 million Venezuelans have fled what was once Latin America's most prosperous nation, with many relocating to nearby Colombia and others migrating to the United States (U.S.).

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Purpose: We present a psychometric evaluation of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Boston Form (CES-D-B) for use with different Latino subgroups as there is inconsistency regarding its performance across subgroups of Latinos, a large and rapidly growing cultural group in the United States.

Methods: We evaluated the reliability and structural validity of the scores generated by the CES-D-B using four distinct Latino samples residing in US: Mexicans, Venezuelans, Cubans, and "other Latinos" (total N = 1033). To further explore structural validity of CES-D-B scores, we conducted measurement invariance analyses across different countries of origin, gender groups, educational levels, and languages of assessment (English, Spanish).

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Article Synopsis
  • The aftermath of Hurricane María in 2017 led to a significant migration of Puerto Ricans to the continental U.S., despite their territorial ties to the U.S. and distinct cultural identity.
  • The study focused on the experiences of 42 Puerto Rican parents who were displaced, using cultural stress theory and psychological sense of community to understand their challenges and resilience.
  • Findings reveal that these parents faced the loss of social connections and support networks in exchange for the potential economic and safety benefits in the U.S., highlighting their complex journey as cross-cultural migrants.
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A crosswalk of the NIOSH Impact Wellbeing™ campaign and the ANCC Pathway to Excellence® Framework.

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As climate change continues to displace greater numbers of people, transnational ties are important sources of social protection for climate migrants. Migrants assemble unique configurations of formal and informal social protections depending on the resources available within their sending and receiving communities. However, the specific constellations of social protections that climate migrants use following disaster and displacement remain underexamined.

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Thrombopoietin receptor agonists (TPO-RAs) induce trilineage hematopoiesis under conditions with acquired hematopoietic failure. We evaluated safety, tolerability, and preliminary efficacy of a TPO-RA, romiplostim (Nplate), with or without standard-of-care immunosuppressive therapy (±IST) for children (ages < 21 y) with newly diagnosed and relapsed/refractory severe aplastic anemia (SAA) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Data were collected from an observational study and a single arm interventional pilot study.

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Objectives: A growing body of research points to a relationship between exposure to migration-related cultural stress and mental health problems. However, such research is often conducted with the tacit assumption that postmigration experiences are the primary-if not singular-driver of psychological distress. In the present study, we aim to extend the cultural-stress paradigm by examining the influences of both premigration crisis exposure and postmigration cultural stress on depression in a sample of Venezuelan crisis migrants in Colombia.

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Objective: Although prior research has shown that an array of distinct experiences related to crisis migration are associated with mental health, there is a pressing need for a theory-driven, multidimensional measure to assess the broad spectrum of crisis migration experiences. As such, the present study focused on developing and validating the Crisis Migration Experience Scale (CMES) with a sample of Venezuelan migrants in Colombia.

Method: Participants were adolescent (ages 12-17; = 430) and adult migrants from Venezuela (ages 18+; = 569).

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Hurricane María caused significant devastation on the island of Puerto Rico, impacting thousands of lives. Puerto Rican crisis migrant families faced stress related to displacement and relocation (cultural stress), often exhibited mental health symptoms, and experienced distress at the family level. Although cultural stress has been examined as an individual experience, little work has focused on the experience as a family.

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Emerging research provides insights into migration-related cultural stress experiences and mental health among Venezuelan migrants; however, prior studies have not considered the critical distinction between xenophobia and discrimination. To address this gap, we assess the psychometric properties of an abbreviated version of the Perceived Online Racism Scale (PORS) with Venezuelan migrant youth and examine the interplay between online xenophobia, in-person discrimination, and mental health. Survey data were collected from Venezuelan migrant youth ( = 319; ages 13-17, 49.

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Article Synopsis
  • Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, leading to significant migration and cultural stress for many survivors now living in the U.S. mainland.
  • A study with 319 participants analyzed how different levels of cultural stress, identified through methods like latent profile analysis, affected mental health outcomes, revealing four distinct stress profiles among survivors.
  • Those in moderate to high cultural stress categories reported notably higher symptoms of depression and anxiety, indicating the importance of understanding these stressors in clinical settings and supporting affected individuals.
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Anxiety is the most prevalent mental health disorder among adults worldwide. Given its increased prevalence among migrants due to their marginalized position in the societies where they reside, psychometric evaluations of anxiety measures such as the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) are needed for use with migrants. The present study is the first attempt to compare the structure of GAD-7 scores for (a) different Latino groups in the same country and (b) the same Latino group in two different countries.

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Background: Data science approaches have increasingly been used in behavioral health research and may be useful for addressing social factors contributing to disparities in health status. This study evaluated the importance of cultural stress-related factors in classifying depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among adult survivors (N = 319) of Hurricane Maria who migrated from Puerto Rico to the United States mainland.

Methods: We evaluated the performance of random forests (RF) and logistic regression (LR) for classifying PTSD and depression.

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Individuals with Down syndrome (Ds) are at increased risk of respiratory infection, aspiration pneumonia, and apnea. The Ts65Dn mouse is a commonly used model of Ds, but there have been no formal investigations of awake breathing and respiratory muscle function in these mice. We hypothesized that breathing would be impaired in Ts65Dn vs.

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Objectives: Following Hurricane Maria, scores of Puerto Rican "Maria migrants" fled the island with thousands permanently resettling on the United States (U.S.) mainland.

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Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) are essential in building effective healthcare teams to provide quality patient care. Striving to achieve a DEIB culture in the healthcare setting presents challenges and opportunities, and using a framework facilitates this important work. This article details how 2 Pathway to Excellence® (Pathway) designated organizations used the Pathway framework foundations around leadership, shared decision-making, professional development, safety, quality, and well-being to build and support their DEIB structures.

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Preterm birth occurs in 10% of all live births and creates challenges to neonatal life, which persist into adulthood. Significant previous work has been undertaken to characterize and understand the respiratory and cardiovascular sequelae of preterm birth, which are present in adulthood, i.e.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Collecting accurate demographic information, especially on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), is essential for addressing the healthcare needs of marginalized groups, particularly the LGBTQIA2S+ community.
  • - Inclusive demographics can reduce psychological harm caused by erasure, improve health outcomes by revealing connections between identity and diseases, and enhance overall data precision across all populations.
  • - Advocacy and proper representation in medical research can help combat the political and social threats faced by the LGBTQIA2S+ community, fostering a sense of belonging and addressing health inequities.
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