Sex and hormonal effects on drug cue-reactivity and its regulation in human addiction.

Objective: To study the sex and hormonal effects on cortico-striatal engagement during drug cue-reactivity and its regulation focusing on drug reappraisal.

Methods: Forty-nine men (age=41.96±9.

Shared orbitofrontal dynamics to a drug-themed movie track craving and recovery in heroin addiction.

Movies captivate groups of individuals (the audience), especially if they contain themes of common motivational interest to the group. In drug addiction, a key mechanism is maladaptive motivational salience attribution whereby drug cues outcompete other reinforcers within the same environment or context. We predicted that while watching a drug-themed movie, where cues for drugs and other stimuli share a continuous narrative context, fMRI responses in individuals with heroin use disorder (iHUD) will preferentially synchronize during drug scenes.

Functional architecture of intracellular oscillations in hippocampal dendrites.

Fast electrical signaling in dendrites is central to neural computations that support adaptive behaviors. Conventional techniques lack temporal and spatial resolution and the ability to track underlying membrane potential dynamics present across the complex three-dimensional dendritic arbor in vivo. Here, we perform fast two-photon imaging of dendritic and somatic membrane potential dynamics in single pyramidal cells in the CA1 region of the mouse hippocampus during awake behavior.

Functional architecture of intracellular oscillations in hippocampal dendrites.

Fast electrical signaling in dendrites is central to neural computations that support adaptive behaviors. Conventional techniques lack temporal and spatial resolution and the ability to track underlying membrane potential dynamics present across the complex three-dimensional dendritic arbor . Here, we perform fast two-photon imaging of dendritic and somatic membrane potential dynamics in single pyramidal cells in the CA1 region of the mouse hippocampus during awake behavior.

Naturalistic drug cue reactivity in heroin use disorder: orbitofrontal synchronization as a marker of craving and recovery.

Movies captivate groups of individuals (the audience), especially if they contain themes of common motivational interest to the group. In drug addiction, a key mechanism is maladaptive motivational salience attribution whereby drug cues outcompete other reinforcers within the same environment or context. We predicted that while watching a drug-themed movie, where cues for drugs and other stimuli share a continuous narrative context, fMRI responses in individuals with heroin use disorder (iHUD) will preferentially synchronize during drug scenes.

Recovery of inhibitory control prefrontal cortex function in inpatients with heroin use disorder: a 15-week longitudinal fMRI study.

Importance: Heroin addiction and related mortality impose a devastating toll on society, with little known about the neurobiology of this disease or its treatment. Poor inhibitory control is a common manifestation of prefrontal cortex (PFC) impairments in addiction, and its potential recovery following treatment is largely unknown in heroin (or any drug) addiction.

Objective: To study inhibitory control brain activity in iHUD and HC, before and after 15 weeks of inpatient treatment in the former.

The Neural Signature of Impaired Inhibitory Control in Individuals with Heroin Use Disorder.

Heroin addiction imposes a devastating toll on society, with little known about its neurobiology. Excessive salience attribution to drug over nondrug cues/reinforcers, with concomitant inhibitory control decreases, are common mechanisms underlying drug addiction. Although inhibitory control alterations generally culminate in prefrontal cortex (PFC) hypoactivations across drugs of abuse, patterns in individuals with heroin addiction (iHUDs) remain unknown.

Common and distinct fronto-striatal volumetric changes in heroin and cocaine use disorders.

Different drugs of abuse impact the morphology of fronto-striatal dopaminergic targets in both common and unique ways. While dorsal striatal volume tracks with addiction severity across drug classes, opiates impact ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and nucleus accumbens (NAcc) neuroplasticity in preclinical models, and psychostimulants alter inhibitory control, rooted in cortical regions such as the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). We hypothesized parallel grey matter volume changes associated with human heroin or cocaine use disorder: lower grey matter volume of vmPFC/NAcc in heroin use disorder and IFG in cocaine use disorder, and putamen grey matter volume to be associated with addiction severity measures (including craving) across both.

Examining nutrition among a sample of 3- to 5-year-old children living in rural Jamaica.

Background: The period of early childhood, defined as three to five years of age, is an important and distinct stage in childhood development. Changes in dietary patterns and composition of diets are exposing children in developing countries to over-nutrition as well as under-nutrition.

Objective: To describe the nutritional status, dietary patterns, and socio-economic conditions of three to five-year-old children living in rural Jamaica.

Female survivors of child sexual abuse: finding voice through research participation.

It is unclear whether survivors of trauma are at risk of emotional or psychological distress when they participate in research because there is little data on the subjective experience of research study participants and how they make meaning from their participation in research. This qualitative descriptive study explored the experience of research participation by survivors of childhood sexual abuse. We interviewed 12 female survivors and identified themes.

Abuse experiences, substance use, and reproductive health in women seeking care at an emergency department.

Introduction: Abuse experiences can have negative health consequences for women. Many women present to the emergency department for episodic, nonemergent care and may have unique needs as survivors of abuse. The purpose of this study was to describe child sexual abuse experiences, intimate partner violence, substance use, and reproductive health outcomes in a sample of adult women who were seeking care from a rural emergency department to better understand the health care needs of this unique population.

Sex trafficking and the exploitation of adolescents.

Human trafficking affects a surprisingly large number of adolescents around the globe. Women and girls make up the majority of sex trafficking victims. Nurses must be aware of sex trafficking as a form of sexual violence in the adolescent population.

Analysis of the determinants of bba64 (P35) gene expression in Borrelia burgdorferi using a gfp reporter.

The bba64 (P35) gene of Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease, encodes a surface-exposed lipoprotein. The expression of bba64 in vitro is tightly regulated and dependent on several environmental factors. In nature, its expression is induced in the tick vector during feeding and maintained during infection of the vertebrate host.

Balancing the needs of the scientist and the subject in trauma research.

All participants in research are vulnerable to some extent. Survivors of trauma are often sought as participants for research studies and may be at an increased risk of emotional or psychological distress as a result of research participation. Scientists need to pay careful attention to issues of informed consent and the potential harm and benefits from research participation.

Genital findings of women after consensual and nonconsensual intercourse.

After a sexual assault, forensic nurses, nurse practitioners, and physicians are called on to collect evidence, document any genital injuries, and testify about the significance of injuries. Recently, the scientific rigor of the research has been challenged in the courts.

Expression of the bmpB gene of Borrelia burgdorferi is modulated by two distinct transcription termination events.

bmp gene family 36 of Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease, comprises four paralogs: bmpA, bmpB, bmpC, and bmpD. The bmpA and bmpB genes constitute an operon. All four genes have been found to be transcribed in cultured spirochetes.

Use of an audit in violence prevention research.

Auditing is an effective tool for articulating the trustworthiness and credibility of qualitative research. However, little information exists on how to conduct an audit. In this article, the authors illustrate their use of an audit team to explore the methods and preliminary findings of a study aimed at identifying the relevant and challenging problems experienced by urban teenagers.

A profile of certification for pediatric nurses.

Over the past 15 years, more than 5,000 nurses have earned specialty nursing certification in pediatrics. While approximately 68% of these nurses have maintained this certification, many have allowed their certification to lapse. Surveys were conducted to describe differences between these two groups.

Two cases of anal fistula in girls evaluated for sexual abuse.

Anal fistulae are seen infrequently in the pediatric population. They are most commonly encountered in otherwise healthy boys less than 1 year of age. In the scant literature regarding pediatric anal fistulae, the majority of studies and case reports involve children less than 1 year of age.