Momentary mindfulness versus distraction coping messages to reduce cannabis craving among young adults: A microrandomized trial.

Objective: Rates of problematic cannabis use among young adults are high and increasing. Craving for cannabis varies throughout the day and is an important risk factor for cannabis use, yet no studies to date have tested interventions offered at the moment craving is experienced in the natural environment.

Method: This study used an efficient and innovative microrandomized trial design to test two distinct types of coping messages (mindfulness strategy vs.

Causal relationships between neuropsychiatric disorders and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A bidirectional Mendelian randomization study.

Background: Increasing evidences suggest that nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with neuropsychiatric disorders. Nevertheless, whether there were causal associations between them remained vague. A causal association between neuropsychiatric disorders and NAFLD was investigated in this study.

Incorporating nonparametric methods for estimating causal excursion effects in mobile health with zero-inflated count outcomes.

In mobile health, tailoring interventions for real-time delivery is of paramount importance. Micro-randomized trials have emerged as the "gold-standard" methodology for developing such interventions. Analyzing data from these trials provides insights into the efficacy of interventions and the potential moderation by specific covariates.

Group vs Individual Prenatal Care and Gestational Diabetes Outcomes: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: The impact of group-based prenatal care (GPNC) model in the US on the risk of gestational diabetes (GD) and related adverse obstetric outcomes is unknown.

Objective: To determine the effects of the GPNC model on risk of GD, its progression, and related adverse obstetric outcomes.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This is a single-site, parallel-group, randomized clinical trial conducted between February 2016 and March 2020 at a large health care system in Greenville, South Carolina.

Longitudinal hippocampal atrophy in hippocampal sclerosis of aging.

Hippocampal sclerosis of aging (HS-A) is a common degenerative neuropathology in older individuals and is associated with dementia. HS-A is characterized by disproportionate hippocampal atrophy at autopsy but cannot be diagnosed during life. Therefore, little is known about the onset and progression of hippocampal atrophy in individuals with HS-A.

Characterization of hippocampal sclerosis of aging and its association with other neuropathologic changes and cognitive deficits in the oldest-old.

Hippocampal sclerosis of aging (HS-A) is a common age-related neuropathological lesion characterized by neuronal loss and astrogliosis in subiculum and CA1 subfield of hippocampus. HS-A is associated with cognitive decline that mimics Alzheimer's disease. Pathological diagnosis of HS-A is traditionally binary based on presence/absence of the lesion.

How Notifications Affect Engagement With a Behavior Change App: Results From a Micro-Randomized Trial.

Background: Drink Less is a behavior change app to help higher-risk drinkers in the United Kingdom reduce their alcohol consumption. The app includes a daily notification asking users to "Please complete your drinks and mood diary," yet we did not understand the causal effect of the notification on engagement nor how to improve this component of Drink Less. We developed a new bank of 30 new messages to increase users' reflective motivation to engage with Drink Less.

Methamphetamine use increases the risk of cerebral small vessel disease in young patients with acute ischemic stroke.

Methamphetamine use causes spikes in blood pressure. Chronic hypertension is a major risk factor for cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD). The aim of this study is to investigate whether methamphetamine use increases the risk of cSVD.

Sample size considerations for micro-randomized trials with binary proximal outcomes.

Micro-randomized trials (MRTs) are a novel experimental design for developing mobile health interventions. Participants are repeatedly randomized in an MRT, resulting in longitudinal data with time-varying treatments. Causal excursion effects are the main quantities of interest in MRT primary and secondary analyses.

Ambulatory assessment to predict problem anger in trauma-affected adults: Study protocol.

Background: Problem anger is common after experiencing a traumatic event. Current evidence-driven treatment options are limited, and problem anger negatively affects an individual's capacity to engage with traditional psychological treatments. Smartphone interventions hold significant potential in mental health because of their ability to deliver low-intensity, precision support for individuals at the time and place they need it most.

Probing potential priming: Defining, quantifying, and testing the causal priming effect using the potential outcomes framework.

Having previously seen an item helps uncover the item another time, given a perceptual or cognitive cue. Oftentimes, however, it may be difficult to quantify or test the existence and size of a perceptual or cognitive effect, in general, and a priming effect, in particular. This is because to examine the existence of and quantify the effect, one needs to compare two outcomes: the outcome had one previously seen the item vs.

An online community peer support intervention to promote COVID-19 vaccine information among essential workers: a randomized trial.

Introduction: Vaccine hesitancy is still rampant in the United States, including health care personnel. Vaccination of frontline essential workers (e.g.

Estimating time-varying causal excursion effect in mobile health with binary outcomes.

Advances in wearables and digital technology now make it possible to deliver behavioral mobile health interventions to individuals in their everyday life. The micro-randomized trial is increasingly used to provide data to inform the construction of these interventions. In a micro-randomized trial, each individual is repeatedly randomized among multiple intervention options, often hundreds or even thousands of times, over the course of the trial.

Morin improves functional recovery after spinal cord injury in rats by enhancing axon regeneration via the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating neurological occurrence that usually leads to a loss of motor and sensory function in patients. Axon regeneration has been reported to be crucial for recovery after trauma to the nervous system. Morin, a natural bioflavonoid obtained from the Moraceae family, has previously been reported to exert neuroprotective effects.

Morin attenuates osteoclast formation and function by suppressing the NF-κB, MAPK and calcium signalling pathways.

Morin is a natural compound isolated from moraceae family members and has been reported to possess a range of pharmacological activities. However, the effects of morin on bone-associated disorders and the potential mechanism remain unknown. In this study, we investigated the anti-osteoclastogenic effect of morin in vitro and the potential therapeutic effects on ovariectomy (OVX)-induced osteoporosis in vivo.

Sense2Stop: A micro-randomized trial using wearable sensors to optimize a just-in-time-adaptive stress management intervention for smoking relapse prevention.

Background: Relapse to smoking is commonly triggered by stress, but behavioral interventions have shown only modest efficacy in preventing stress-related relapse. Continuous digital sensing to detect states of smoking risk and intervention receptivity may make it feasible to increase treatment efficacy by adapting intervention timing.

Objective: Aims are to investigate whether the delivery of a prompt to perform stress management behavior, as compared to no prompt, reduces the likelihood of (a) being stressed and (b) smoking in the subsequent two hours, and (c) whether current stress moderates these effects.

Promoting Nrf2/Sirt3-Dependent Mitophagy Suppresses Apoptosis in Nucleus Pulposus Cells and Protects against Intervertebral Disc Degeneration.

One of the causes of intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is nucleus pulposus cell (NPC) death, possibly apoptosis. In this study, we explored the role of the Nrf2/Sirt3 pathway and tert-butylhydroquinone (t-BHQ) in IVDD and elucidated the potential working mechanism. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) assay kits and malondialdehyde (MDA) assay kits were used to assess oxidative stress.

Engagement With a Behavior Change App for Alcohol Reduction: Data Visualization for Longitudinal Observational Study.

Background: Behavior change apps can develop iteratively, where the app evolves into a complex, dynamic, or personalized intervention through cycles of research, development, and implementation. Understanding how existing users engage with an app (eg, frequency, amount, depth, and duration of use) can help guide further incremental improvements. We aim to explore how simple visualizations can provide a good understanding of temporal patterns of engagement, as usage data are often longitudinal and rich.

Identifying neural signatures mediating behavioral symptoms and psychosis onset: High-dimensional whole brain functional mediation analysis.

Along the pathway from behavioral symptoms to the development of psychotic disorders sits the multivariate mediating brain. The functional organization and structural topography of large-scale multivariate neural mediators among patients with brain disorders, however, are not well understood. Here, we design a high-dimensional brain-wide functional mediation framework to investigate brain regions that intermediate between baseline behavioral symptoms and future conversion to full psychosis among individuals at clinical high risk (CHR).

Linear mixed models with endogenous covariates: modeling sequential treatment effects with application to a mobile health study.

Mobile health is a rapidly developing field in which behavioral treatments are delivered to individuals via wearables or smartphones to facilitate health-related behavior change. Micro-randomized trials (MRT) are an experimental design for developing mobile health interventions. In an MRT the treatments are randomized numerous times for each individual over course of the trial.

Honokiol protects against epidural fibrosis by inhibiting fibroblast proliferation and extracellular matrix overproduction in rats post‑laminectomy.

Epidural fibrosis (EF)‑induced failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) in patients post‑laminectomy remains a medical challenge. Although the scarring mechanisms remain unclear, the majority of aetiological studies have reported fibroblast dysfunction. Honokiol, the major bioactive constituent of the magnolia tree, exerts a variety of pharmacological effects, including anti‑proliferative and anti‑fibrotic effects, on various cell types.