Covid-19 vaccination status and beliefs of individuals with co-occurring serious mental illness and alcohol use disorder.

Objective: The study objective was to determine factors associated with obtaining COVID-19 vaccination in people with co-occurring alcohol use disorder (AUD) and serious mental illness (SMI).

Methods: Survey responses were obtained from 135 adults with SMI seeking community-based AUD treatment about their primary series vaccination status, COVID-19 preventative practices, vaccination motivators, reasons for vaccine hesitancy, and strategies to increase vaccination uptake. Vaccinated and unvaccinated groups were compared.

Rapid CNN-based needle localization for automatic slice alignment in MR-guided interventions using 3D undersampled radial white-marker imaging.

Background: In MR-guided in-bore percutaneous needle interventions, typically 2D interactive real-time imaging is used for navigating the needle into the target. Misaligned 2D imaging planes can result in losing visibility of the needle in the 2D images, which impedes successful targeting. Necessary iterative manual slice adjustment can prolong interventional workflows.

Optimizing Contingency Management with Reinforcement Learning.

Contingency Management (CM) is a psychological treatment that aims to change behavior with financial incentives. In substance use disorders (SUDs), deployment of CM has been enriched by longstanding discussions around the cost-effectiveness of prized-based and voucher-based approaches. In prize-based CM, participants earn draws to win prizes, including small incentives to reduce costs, and the number of draws escalates depending on the duration of maintenance of abstinence.

Mobile Medication Adherence Platform for Buprenorphine (MAP4BUP): A Phase I feasibility, usability and efficacy pilot randomized clinical trial.

Background/aim: Poor medication adherence is one of the main barriers to the long-term efficacy of buprenorphine/naloxone (BUP/NAL). The aims of this pilot investigation were to examine if a Bluetooth-enabled pill cap and mobile application is a feasible, usable tool for increasing BUP/NAL adherence among people with an opioid use disorder.

Methods: This pilot randomized clinical trial (RCT; total n = 41) lasted 12 weeks and was conducted in two office-based BUP/NAL provider locations in Spokane, WA and Coeur d'Alene, ID from January 2020 to September of 2021 with an 11-month gap due to COVID-19.

Addressing the Spectrum of Opioid Misuse Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery in Rural Washington State Communities: Provider Identified Barriers and Needs.

The opioid overdose epidemic has significantly impacted rural communities. Rural settings present unique challenges to addressing opioid misuse. The purpose of the current study was to understand the similarities and differences between rural and urban-based providers serving rural communities.

The Importance of Research Experience With a Scoreless Step 1: A Student Survey at a Community-Based Medical School.

Purpose: As of January 26, 2022, the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USLME) step 1 exam went from a scored test to pass-fail step 1 (PFS1). The authors were interested in surveying medical students at a community-based medical school to observe their perceptions of the importance of student research given this recent change.

Method: A Qualtrics survey was disseminated to medical students (years 1-4) via school emails.

Investigating Secondary Alcohol Outcomes in a Contingency Management Intervention among American Indian and Alaska Native Adults.

Objective: The aim of the study is to investigate clinically meaningful, secondary outcomes in a randomized trial of a culturally adapted contingency management (CM) intervention for alcohol use in 3 diverse American Indian and Alaska Native communities.

Methods: Three American Indian and Alaska Native communities located in the Northern Plains, Alaska, and the Inland Northwest were partnering sites. A total of 158 individuals were randomized to either a 12-week CM intervention or a noncontingent (NC) control group.

Assessing Clinically Significant Cognitive Impairment Using the NIH Toolbox in Individuals with Co-occurring Serious Mental Illness and Alcohol Use Disorder.

Objective: Serious mental illnesses (SMI) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) co-occurrence (SMI-AUD) is common, yet little is known about the prevalence and risk factors of cognitive impairment for this population. We used the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Toolbox to identify clinically significant cognitive impairment (CSCI), describe the cognitive profile, and investigate whether psychiatric and AUD severity measures are associated with CSCI in individuals with SMI-AUD.

Methods: CSCI was defined as 2 or more fully corrected fluid subtest T scores below a set threshold based on an individual's crystalized composite score.

Geo-spatial risk factor analysis for drug overdose death in South Florida from 2014 to 2019, and the independent contribution of social determinants of health.

Purpose: The physical environment and social determinants of health have been shown to influence health behaviors including drug use and fatal drug overdose. The current research examines the effects of the built environment, social determinants of health measures and aggregated risk from the built environment at neighborhood-level on drug overdose death locations in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Methods: Risk Terrain Modeling (RTM) was used to assess the place features risk factors that significantly increase the risk of drug overdose death spatially in Miami-Dade County ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, Florida from 2014 to 2019.

Patient Feedback on a Mobile Medication Adherence App for Buprenorphine and Naloxone: Closed and Open-Ended Survey on Feasibility and Acceptability.

Background: Opioid use disorders impact the health and well-being of millions of Americans. Buprenorphine and naloxone (BUP and NAL) can reduce opioid overdose deaths, decrease misuse, and improve quality of life. Unfortunately, poor medication adherence is a primary barrier to the long-term efficacy of BUP and NAL.

Exploring the mediating role of baseline urinalysis results on demographic characteristics and stimulant use disorder treatment outcomes.

Introduction: Baseline stimulant urinalysis (UA) is one of the most reliable predictors of stimulant use disorder treatment outcomes. Yet we know little about the role of baseline stimulant UA mediating the effects of different baseline characteristics on treatment outcomes.

Objectives: This study aimed to explore the potential mediating role of baseline stimulant UA results on the relationship between baseline characteristics and total number of stimulant negative UAs submitted during treatment.

Contingency Management for Stimulant Use Disorder: Progress, Challenges, and Recommendations.

The United States is currently in the fourth wave of the overdose crisis wherein stimulants together with fentanyl are the major drivers of overdose deaths. To date, there has been limited effort outside the US Veterans Administration Health System health system to disseminate evidence-based treatment for people with stimulant use disorder. Contingency management, a behavioral intervention in which positive reinforcement is provided for a target behavior indicating treatment progress, has decades of empirical support but limited implementation in real-world, non-US Veterans Administration Health System settings.

Systematic review with meta-analysis: Stress-management interventions for patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common chronic gastrointestinal disorder of unknown pathological origin that is associated with psychological distress and reduced health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We investigated the effects of stress-management for adults with IBS on typical symptoms, HRQoL and mental health. With predefined criteria (patients: adults with IBS; intervention: stress-management; control: care as usual or waitlist; outcome: patient-relevant; study-type: controlled trials), we registered the study with PROSPERO (168030) and searched the main medical databases.

[Bavarian online database for corona screening tests-development and use of a digital solution in the pandemic].

During the SARS-CoV‑2 pandemic, various data had to be collected to support political decisions for pandemic preparedness and response. Nevertheless, using analogue tools like paper and pencil as well as sending files with media discontinuity that have to be merged later are not useful and can hardly provide usable data in real time. With the selected system architecture, the Bavarian Online Database for Corona Screening Tests (BayCoRei) is a central, Bavaria-wide, consistent digital solution that is agile and easy to use.

Factors Associated with Child Removal Among American Indian and Alaska Native People in an Alcohol Intervention Study.

This study was a secondary data analysis of factors associated with alcohol-related child removal among American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) adults enrolled in a clinical trial of an alcohol intervention. Among 326 parent participants, 40% reported ever having a child removed from their care in part because of the parent's alcohol use, defined here as alcohol-related child removal. Seventy-five percent of parents reported at least one separation during their own childhood (M = 1.

Slippery Paraelectric Transition-Metal Dichalcogenide Bilayers.

Traditional ferroelectrics undergo thermally induced phase transitions whereby their structural symmetry increases. The associated higher-symmetry structure is dubbed . Ferroelectric transition-metal dichalcogenide bilayers have been recently shown to become paraelectric, but not much has been said of the atomistic configuration of such a phase.

Youth risk profiles and their prediction of distal cannabis and tobacco co-use in the Population Assessment of Tobacco Health (PATH).

Co-use of cannabis and tobacco is common and increases negative behavioral, physical and mental health consequences. This study aimed to describe latent profiles of youth internalizing and externalizing problems, sensation seeking, and family environment in the US and their relationships with substance co-use. Data come from the Population Assessment of Tobacco Health (PATH).

Contingency management for alcohol use disorder reduces cannabis use among American Indian and Alaska Native adults.

Objective: Determine whether a culturally tailored contingency management (CM) intervention targeting alcohol abstinence resulted in secondary effects on cannabis use among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) adults.

Methods: The research team conducted this secondary data analysis to examine cannabis abstinence using data from a randomized control trial of CM for alcohol use among three AI/AN-serving organizations. One hundred and fifty-eight adults met the randomization criteria (i.

Characterizing Enzyme Cooperativity with Imaging SAMDI-MS.

This paper describes a method that combines a microfluidic device and self-assembled monolayers for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (SAMDI) mass spectrometry to calculate the cooperativity in binding of calcium ions to peptidylarginine deiminase type 2 (PAD2). This example uses only 120 μL of enzyme solution and three fluidic inputs. This microfluidic device incorporates a self-assembled monolayer that is functionalized with a peptide substrate for PAD2.

Effectiveness of incorporating contingency management into a public treatment program for people who use crack cocaine in Brazil. A single-blind randomized controlled trial.

Background: Smoked cocaine (i.e., crack use) is a severe health problem in Brazil, with the country being reported as having the largest crack market in the world.

Intraoperative Methadone Use in Cardiac Surgery: A Systematic Review.

Objective: To investigate the effects of intraoperative methadone in comparison with those of standard-of-care intraoperative opioids, such as fentanyl and morphine, on pain scores, opioid consumption, and adverse effects in adults undergoing cardiothoracic surgery.

Methods: The literature was reviewed in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar, followed by a manual search of the reference lists of the identified articles. Search terms included a combination of "intraoperative methadone," "methadone," and "cardiac surgery.

Validating the clinical relevance of alternative stimulant use treatment outcome measures by examining their association with 3-month follow-up outcomes.

The lack of a consensus on empirically supported and clinically meaningful outcome measures for stimulant use disorders (SUDs) continues to undermine the development and evaluation of effective behavioral and pharmacological treatment options. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical relevance of four stimulant use treatment outcome measures (longest duration of abstinence [LDA], percent of negative urinalysis submitted, abstinent in the last 2 weeks of treatment, and three or more weeks of continuous abstinence) by exploring their utility via association with stimulant and alcohol use, employment and legal problems, and severity of psychiatric symptomatology collected at follow-up. Data used in these secondary analyses came from a multisite randomized contingency management treatment trial for SUDs (n = 441) conducted through the NIDA Clinical Trials Network.

Predictors of cannabis and tobacco co-use in youth: exploring the mediating role of age at first use in the population assessment of tobacco health (PATH) study.

Background: Adolescents often use substances such as tobacco and cannabis. Co-use of these substances can lead to physical, mental, and psychosocial difficulties beyond that which would be anticipated by simple additivity of their individual effects.

Methods: We aimed to examine the mediating role of age at first use of cannabis or tobacco (AU) between youth factors of internalizing, externalizing, and sensation seeking and two co-use outcomes (lifetime; last 30 days).

Socioeconomic and Racial Inequities in Breast Cancer Screening During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Washington State.

This cohort study investigates the rates of breast cancer screening before and during the COVID-19 pandemic among women in Washington State.