Publications by authors named "Tracey Smith"

Article Synopsis
  • - The FLOW program helps mental health providers move patients who have stabilized in specialty mental health care to primary care, aiming to improve access to such services across nine VA sites, where implementation was varied.
  • - The study uses the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) to identify factors that contribute to successful implementation, utilizing a mixed-methods approach to analyze different metrics across the sites.
  • - Key themes for successful implementation include positive perceptions of the FLOW intervention, a supportive recovery-oriented care culture, low turnover of mental health providers, and effective internal facilitators, while other aspects like staffing and leadership support showed inconsistent effects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

FLOW (not an acronym) is a program that aims to improve mental health (MH) access using an algorithm that extracts electronic medical record data to identify recovered or stabilized MH patients who may be eligible to transition to primary care. The purpose of this case study was to describe and understand the factors that contributed to success or struggles in implementing FLOW. We conducted a posthoc evaluation of four health care sites implementing FLOW, using a mixed-method formal case study analysis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The objective of this article is to demonstrate the added value of foot care provided by an RN with foot care training to older adults in their home by focusing on four older adults with diabetic foot ulcers. The RN used a mobile multispectral near-infrared spectroscopy device to enhance the assessment of the diabetic foot ulcers. The Mobile Seniors Wellness Network methodically engaged with English-speaking adults 55 years and older living within a 90-minute radius of the city's community health center.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The FLOW program was designed to facilitate appropriate and safe transitions of patients from specialty mental health (SMH) to primary care (PC) as a method of improving access and reducing appointment burden on veterans who have improved or remitted. In this study, the team evaluated the implementation of FLOW across nine Veterans Affairs (VA) sites using a mixed-methods evaluation in a cluster-randomized stepped wedge trial design. Outcome assessments used data from VA databases, dashboards, and semi-structured interviews and were guided by the Reach, Adoption, Effectiveness, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The sudden onset of the coronavirus disease led to a rapid expansion of video telehealth to deliver mental healthcare. Although video telehealth was not a new clinical practice, there was limited guidance on how best to modify evidence-based psychotherapies (EBPs) for virtual delivery (a process also referred to as virtualization). The virtualization process for EBPs remains unclear as newly emerging reports on this topic do not consistently report modification decisions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Consuming a diet that meets energy demands and provides essential nutrients promotes a healthy immune system, while both under- and over-nutrition have been associated with immune dysfunction. Military personnel comprise a unique population who frequently endure multi-stressor environments, predisposing them to immune decrements. Additionally, 49% and 22% of active duty U.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Unlabelled: Hand-to-hand combat training, known as combatives, instructs Soldiers in close-quarters combat techniques and how to cope with stress, understand controlled physical aggression, and develop self-confidence when engaged in such activities. Limited research in combat sports suggests men and women may respond to combatives stress differently. Given the increasing integration of women into close combat roles in the military, investigation of sex differences in the physiological and psychological response to combatives among military-trained personnel is warranted.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The vascular endothelium from individual organs is functionally specialized, and it displays a unique set of accessible molecular targets. These serve as endothelial cell receptors to affinity ligands. To date, all identified vascular receptors have been proteins.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) affects thousands of lives worldwide each year. Typically, DTC is a treatable disease with a good prognosis. Yet, some patients are subjected to partial or total thyroidectomy and radioiodine therapy to prevent local disease recurrence and metastasis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) is generally treatable, but some patients undergo aggressive treatments like thyroidectomy and radioiodine therapy, which can negatively impact their quality of life and may not be necessary for less aggressive cases.
  • - A new multi-omics model has been proposed to better diagnose DTC by differentiating between normal thyroid tissue and tumors, particularly in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), by analyzing various biological markers.
  • - The study suggests that analyzing DNA mutations, telomere length, and metabolic profiles of thyroid tissues could lead to more effective patient management and avoid unnecessary treatments through targeted molecular approaches.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background, Aims And Objectives: This scoping review aimed to understand potential barriers and facilitators in transitioning patients from specialty to primary care settings, to inform the implementation of an intervention to promote active consideration of psychiatrically stable patients for transition from the specialty mental health setting back to primary care.

Methods: Guided by Levac and colleagues' six-stage methodological framework for conducting scoping studies, we systematically searched electronic article databases for peer-reviewed literature from January 2000 to May 2016. We included identified articles that discuss findings related to potential barriers and facilitators in transitioning patients from specialty to primary care settings.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Personnel engaged in high-stakes occupations, such as military personnel, law enforcement, and emergency first responders, must sustain performance through a range of environmental stressors. To maximize the effectiveness of military personnel, an a priori understanding of traits can help predict their physical and cognitive performance under stress and adversity. This work developed and assessed a suite of measures that have the potential to predict performance during operational scenarios.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: We have previously shown that the long non-coding (lnc)RNA (; formerly ) functions as a trans-dominant negative oncogene by targeting the previously unrecognized prostate cancer suppressor gene (a homolog of the gene), thereby forming a functional unit within a unique allelic locus in human cells. Here, we investigated the / regulatory axis from early (tumorigenic) to late (biochemical recurrence) genetic events during human prostate cancer progression.

Methods: The reciprocal and gene expression relationship in paired prostate cancer and adjacent normal prostate was analyzed in two independent retrospective cohorts of clinically annotated cases post-radical prostatectomy: a single-institutional discovery cohort (n=107) and a multi-institutional validation cohort (n=497).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sleep restriction alters gut microbiota composition and intestinal barrier function in rodents, but whether similar effects occur in humans is unclear. This study aimed to determine the effects of severe, short-term sleep restriction on gut microbiota composition and intestinal permeability in healthy adults. Fecal microbiota composition, measured by 16S rRNA sequencing, and intestinal permeability were measured in 19 healthy men (mean ± SD; BMI 24.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Initial military training (IMT) is a transitionary period wherein immune function may be suppressed and infection risk heightened due to physical and psychological stress, communal living, and sleep deprivation. This study characterized changes in biomarkers of innate and adaptive immune function, and potential modulators of those changes, in military recruits during IMT.

Methods: Peripheral leukocyte distribution and mitogen-stimulated cytokine profiles were measured in fasted blood samples, Epstein-Barr (EBV), varicella zoster (VZV), and herpes simplex 1 (HSV1) DNA was measured in saliva by quantitative polymerase chain reaction as an indicator of latent herpesvirus reactivation, and diet quality was determined using the healthy eating index measured by food frequency questionnaire in 61 US Army recruits (97% male) at the beginning (PRE) and end (POST) of 22-wk IMT.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Synaptic dysfunction is linked to various neurological disorders, and understanding the regulatory factors behind these synaptic processes is challenging.
  • Researchers created a mutant mouse model lacking the PHD finger protein 21B (Phf21b) to investigate its function in the brain, which resulted in impaired social memory and reduced synaptic protein expression.
  • The study found that PHF21B interacts with specific histone modifications and transcription factors, highlighting its role in regulating synaptic plasticity genes, making it a potential target for treating neurobehavioral disorders.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Lymphatic malformations (LMs) often pose treatment challenges due to a large size or a critical location that could lead to disfigurement, and there are no standardized treatment approaches for either refractory or unresectable cases.

Methods: We examined the genomic landscape of a patient cohort of LMs ( = 30 cases) that underwent comprehensive genomic profiling using a large-panel next-generation sequencing assay. Immunohistochemical analyses were completed in parallel.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Evaluation of immunogenic epitopes for universal vaccine development in the face of ongoing SARS-CoV-2 evolution remains a challenge. Herein, we investigate the genetic and structural conservation of an immunogenically relevant epitope (C662-C671) of spike (S) protein across SARS-CoV-2 variants to determine its potential utility as a broad-spectrum vaccine candidate against coronavirus diseases. Comparative sequence analysis, structural assessment, and molecular dynamics simulations of C662-C671 epitope were performed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Physiologic and psychologic stress slow healing from experimental wounds by impairing immune function.

Objectives: We aimed to determine whether supplemental protein and multinutrient supplementation improved wound healing markers after acute stress induced by acute sleep restriction.

Methods: In this single-blind, crossover study in generally healthy young adults (18 males/2 females; mean ± SD age: 19.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Enhancing dietary omega-3 highly unsaturated fatty acids (n-3 HUFA) intake may confer neuroprotection, brain resiliency, improve wound healing and promote cardiovascular health. This study determined the efficacy of substituting a few common foods (chicken meat, chicken sausage, eggs, salad dressings, pasta sauces, cooking oil, mayonnaise, and peanut butter) lower in omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-6 PUFA) and higher in n-3 HUFA in a dining facility on blood fatty acid profile. An eight-week prospective, between-subjects ( = 77), repeated measures, parallel-arm trial was conducted.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a signature wound of Veterans of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan (i.e., OIF/OEF/OND).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Targeted bacteriophage (phage) particles are potentially attractive yet inexpensive platforms for immunization. Herein, we describe targeted phage capsid display of an immunogenically relevant epitope of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein that is empirically conserved, likely due to the high mutational cost among all variants identified to date. This observation may herald an approach to developing vaccine candidates for broad-spectrum, towards universal, protection against multiple emergent variants of coronavirus that cause COVID-19.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Development of effective vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global imperative. Rapid immunization of the entire human population against a widespread, continually evolving, and highly pathogenic virus is an unprecedented challenge, and different vaccine approaches are being pursued. Engineered filamentous bacteriophage (phage) particles have unique potential in vaccine development due to their inherent immunogenicity, genetic plasticity, stability, cost-effectiveness for large-scale production, and proven safety profile in humans.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Several nights of moderate (4-5 hr/night) sleep restriction increases appetite and energy intake, and may alter circulating concentrations of appetite regulating hormones. Whether more severe sleep restriction has similar effects is unclear. This study aimed to determine the effects of severe, short-term sleep restriction on appetite, ad libitum energy intake during a single meal, appetite regulating hormones, and food preferences.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The current study protocol regards a partnered, mixed-methods, cluster-randomized stepped wedge trial of the implementation and effectiveness of the FLOW program. FLOW (not an acronym) is a collection of resources and strategies to assist in determining which recovered or stabilized specialty mental health (SMH) patients should transition back to primary care (PC) and tools to make the transition seamless. Transitioning appropriate patients to PC can increase access and timeliness of mental health care for newly referred mental health patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF