Employing a Phased, Interdisciplinary Approach Across Healthcare and School Settings: mHealth Adaptations for Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder At-Risk of Experiencing Obesity.

Youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at nearly twice the risk of experiencing obesity, compared to youth without ASD. Wellness Education to Create Healthy habits and Actions to Thrive (WE CHAT) is a novel chatbot that engages participants to enhance primary care delivery and associated care coordination services through mobile health (mHealth) technology focused on social determinants of health (SDOH) and social-emotional health. This study examines multiple perspectives regarding the development and implementation of innovative mHealth technology among youth with ASD.

Evaluation of a pediatric navigation program within primary care: a quantitative analysis guided by the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework.

Background: Pediatric Support Services (PSS) is a Patient Navigation Program designed to address barriers from referral-to-service connection from primary care to health system and community-based services and resources. This study aimed to evaluate PSS' implementation for mental health services along the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework and identify factors throughout implementation to inform sustainability and delivery.

Methods: This study included descriptive analysis of all patients referred to PSS to assess reach, with a primary cohort analyses of a subset of patients referred specifically to mental health services.

Effects of extension ladder fly configuration on climbing safety.

Fall injuries often occur on extension ladders. The extendable fly section of an extension ladder is typically closer to the user than the base section, though this design is minimally justified. This study investigates the effects of reversing the fly on foot placement, frictional requirements, adverse stepping events (repositioning the foot or kicking the rung), and user preferences.

Examining outpatient occupational therapy utilization among children and youth with special health care needs in South Carolina: A structural equation model of individual- and community-level factors.

Background: Children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) comprise 23 % of the pediatric population in South Carolina (SC), compared to state prevalences of 13.6 %-24 % nationwide. While occupational therapy (OT) is critical to maximizing CYSHCN's participation in daily activities, there are significant disparities in rehabilitation access in the Southeast region.

Bridging the gaps in pediatric complex healthcare: the case for home nursing care among children with medical complexity.

Background: Children with medical complexity (CMC) comprise < 1% of the pediatric population, but account for nearly one-third of healthcare expenditures. Further, while CMC account for up to 80% of pediatric inpatient hospital costs, only 2% of Medicaid spending is attributed to home healthcare. As a result, the current health system heavily relies on family caregivers to fill existing care gaps.

Characteristics of lung cancer screening eligible population in the US and prediction of the eligibility with simplified criteria.

Background: In 2021, updates to the lung cancer screening (LCS) guidelines extended the eligibility to include younger individuals and those with lower lifetime smoking intensity. A significant challenge in the LCS implementation is identifying eligible individuals because lifetime smoking intensity, a key criterion of current guidelines, is typically unavailable in electronic health records and difficult to assess accurately. This study aimed to (I) examine the characteristics of the eligible population in the US based on current guidelines and (II) evaluate the performance of five simplified criteria as alternative tools for predicting LCS eligibility.

Examining Patient- and Community-Level Factors Associated with Pediatric Mental Healthcare Access Within a Patient Navigation Program.

In 2021, national leaders in the United States declared a "national youth mental health crisis." Still, only 1-in-4 children receive adequate mental healthcare access. Patient Navigator Programs (PNPs) can improve children's referral-to-connection to mental health services.

Euglena mutabilis exists in a FAB consortium with microbes that enhance cadmium tolerance.

Background: Synthetic algal-fungal and algal-bacterial cultures have been investigated as a means to enhance the technological applications of the algae. This inclusion of other microbes has enhanced growth and improved stress tolerance of the algal culture. The goal of the current study was to investigate natural microbial consortia to gain an understanding of the occurrence and benefits of these associations in nature.

Discrimination and Adverse Perinatal Health Outcomes: A Latent Class Analysis.

Introduction: An intersectionality framework recognizes individuals as simultaneously inhabiting multiple intersecting social identities embedded within systems of disadvantage and privilege. Previous research links perceived discrimination with worsened health outcomes yet is limited by a focus on racial discrimination in isolation. We applied an intersectional approach to the study of discrimination to examine the association with adverse perinatal health outcomes.

The Association between Food Security Status and the Home Food Environment among a Sample of Rural South Carolina Residents.

Prior research suggests that food security status may have an effect on the home food environment. Further, the literature suggests that food access factors may function to influence said relationship. The purpose of this research is to fill a gap in the literature on this relationship, as well as to identify potential food access effect modifiers.

Community features' varying insight into emergency department use for different childhood injuries.

Background: Community-level factors, including poverty level, minority population, and rurality are predictive of child injury rates. Community-based interventions targeting high-risk communities have been suggested for prevention and are reliant on understanding details of the community and prevalent types of injuries. The present study assessed injury rates based on characteristics of the community and for different types of injuries.

Systematic examination of methodological inconsistency in operationalizing cognitive reserve and its impact on identifying predictors of late-life cognition.

Background: Cognitive reserve (CR) is the ability to maintain cognitive performance despite brain pathology. CR is built through lifecourse experiences (e.g.

During roof-to ladder transitions, walk-through extensions modify required friction direction.

Severe and fatal falls involving ladders commonly occur during transitions across the ladder and another support surface. Slipping is a common initiating event in ladder falls. This study characterized the friction requirements and body kinematics of descending roof-to-ladder transitions with and without a walk-through extension.

Identifying Risk Factors Associated with Repeated Referrals Within a Pediatric Navigation Program.

Approximately 1-in-5 children have a diagnosed mental, behavioral, and/or developmental disorder or delay by age 8 in the United States. Children with such conditions often require complex, complicated diagnostic and specialty care, making them susceptible to repeated referrals and ongoing unmet healthcare needs. Patient navigation programs (PNPs) are designed to integrate care from primary care providers to community-based services, using trained navigators to help patients and their families manage referrals and connect with referred services.

School-Based Mental Health Service Utilization Through the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond.

Background: We examined trends in mental health service utilization before, during, and in the immediate return to in-person learning throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Retrospective chart review was assessed for changes in odds of any visit being a mental health encounter from five school-based health centers from the 2018-2019 to the 2021-2022 school years. Data are limited to the in-person school year from mid-August to early June.

Mobile health contingency management for smoking cessation among veterans experiencing homelessness: A comparative effectiveness trial.

Tobacco cessation is reduced in U.S. military veterans experiencing homelessness.

"I Don't Want to Go to Work": A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Healthcare Worker Experiences from the Front- and Side-Lines of COVID-19.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers (HCW) were categorized as "essential" and "non-essential", creating a division where some were "locked-in" a system with little ability to prepare for or control the oncoming crisis. Others were "locked-out" regardless of whether their skills might be useful. The purpose of this study was to systematically gather data over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic from HCW through an interprofessional lens to examine experiences of locked-out HCW.

Contextualizing physical activity in rural adults: Do relationships between income inequality, neighborhood environments, and physical activity exist?

Objective: To examine if income inequality, social cohesion, and neighborhood walkability are associated with physical activity among rural adults.

Data Source: Cross-sectional data came from a telephone survey (August 2020-March 2021) that examined food access, physical activity, and neighborhood environments across rural counties in a southeastern state.

Study Design: Multinomial logistic regression models assessed the likelihood of being active versus inactive and insufficiently active versus inactive in this rural population.

A Retrospective Analysis of Tear Film and Blink Parameters in Patients With Ocular Surface Disease.

Objectives: We had two objectives: (1) to investigate differences in tear film and blink parameters in patients with six ocular surface diseases (OSD): ocular graft versus host disease (oGVHD), Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), lax eyelid syndrome, meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), obstructive sleep apnea, and dry eye disease; and (2) to characterize the relationships between lipid layer thickness (LLT), meiboscore, Schirmer I test, and three blink parameters: partial blink rate (PBR), interblink interval (IBI), and interpalpebral fissure height (IPFH) in this group of patients.

Methods: This is a single-site retrospective analysis of 228 patients (456 eyes) with six different primary OSD at Loyola University Medical Center between January 2018 and July 2020. Objective parameters included: LLT, IBI, PBR, IPFH, Pult meiboscore, and Schirmer I score.

Measuring affect in daily life: A multilevel psychometric evaluation of the PANAS-X across four ecological momentary assessment samples.

While there is strong evidence for the psychometric reliability of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-Expanded Form (PANAS-X) in cross-sectional studies, the between- and within-person psychometric performance of the PANAS-X in an intensive longitudinal framework is less understood. As affect is thought to be dynamic and responsive to context, this study investigated the multilevel reliability of PANAS-X Positive Affect, Negative Affect, Fear, Sadness, and Hostility scales. Generalizability theory and structural equation modeling techniques (coefficient ω) were employed in four ecological momentary assessment samples ( = 309; 41,261 reports).

Food Insecurity, the Food Environment, and COVID-19 in Rural South Carolina.

In this study, we explored the relationship between the food environment and food security among rural adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers, with assistance from community partners, conducted a cross-sectional survey assessing the impact of COVID-19 on food access, food security, and physical activity in 9 rural South Carolina (SC) counties. This survey was administered to a purposive sample (N = 587) from August 2020 to March 2021.