Lower distress intolerance is associated with higher glutathione levels in adolescent cannabis users.

Cannabis (CB) use and psychological stressors increase oxidative stress in the brain. Glutathione (GSH), the most abundant antioxidant in the brain, protects against oxidative stress. Furthermore, distress intolerance, the inability to tolerate psychological or physiological stress is a risk factor for CB use.

Elevated circulating soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sCD25) level is associated with prefrontal excitatory-inhibitory imbalance in individuals with chronic pain: A proton MRS study.

Aberrant neuronal excitability in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is implicated in cognitive and affective pain processing. Such excitability may be amplified by activated circulating immune cells, including T lymphocytes, that interact with the central nervous system. Here, we conducted a study of individuals with chronic pain using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to investigate the clinical evidence for the interaction between peripheral immune activation and prefrontal excitatory-inhibitory imbalance.

MCell4 with BioNetGen: A Monte Carlo simulator of rule-based reaction-diffusion systems with Python interface.

Biochemical signaling pathways in living cells are often highly organized into spatially segregated volumes, membranes, scaffolds, subcellular compartments, and organelles comprising small numbers of interacting molecules. At this level of granularity stochastic behavior dominates, well-mixed continuum approximations based on concentrations break down and a particle-based approach is more accurate and more efficient. We describe and validate a new version of the open-source MCell simulation program (MCell4), which supports generalized 3D Monte Carlo modeling of diffusion and chemical reaction of discrete molecules and macromolecular complexes in solution, on surfaces representing membranes, and combinations thereof.

Creatine concentration in the anterior cingulate cortex is associated with greater stress recovery from traumatic events: Preliminary evidence from a US Veteran sample.

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric condition characterized by a prolonged stress response to potentially life-threatening events long after the event has passed. Understanding factors related to recovery from traumatic life events may inform novel targets for intervention. There is emerging preclinical evidence that creatine (Cr), a molecule critical to brain bioenergetics, may be a neurobiological marker of stress reactivity and recovery.

A Literature Review of Mental Health Symptom Outcomes in U.S. Veterans and Servicemembers Following Combat Exposure and Military Sexual Trauma.

Combat exposure (CE) and military sexual trauma (MST) are among the most common types of traumatic experiences faced by veterans and active duty servicemembers and, as such, have both garnered increased research focus over the past decades. However, there has not yet been a critical review of the literature to examine the distinct clinical presentations associated with different trauma types. This is particularly important, as understanding distinct clinical profiles could help researchers and clinicians refine treatment approaches based on trauma type.

Daily Quality Assurance Efficiency Evaluation Using SunCHECK Machine and Machine Performance Check.

Purpose To investigate time efficiency, applicability, and accuracy of using a web-based, independent quality assurance (QA) platform and vendor-dependent based system check for daily linear accelerator (LINAC) QA. Methods  Time needed to perform daily QA on a single (n=1) LINAC was collected for three months. Task Group report 142 (TG-142) compliant daily QA included dosimetry checks (four photon, four electron beams); imaging checks (planar kilovolt (kV) & megavolt (MV), kV cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT)); and mechanical and safety checks using SunCHECK Machine (SCM) (Sun Nuclear Inc.

Assessing general versus specific liability for externalizing problems in adolescence: Concurrent and prospective prediction of symptoms of conduct disorder, ADHD, and substance use.

This study explored the generality versus specificity of two trait-liability factors for externalizing problems-disinhibition and callousness-in the concurrent and prospective prediction of symptoms of conduct disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and substance use (i.e., alcohol use disorder and history of illicit substance use).

Boldness moderates cognitive performance under acute threat: Evidence from a task-switching paradigm involving cueing for shock.

Understanding factors that influence behavioral performance in high-pressure contexts is relevant to critical occupations such as first responders, military personnel, and frontline medical workers. A recent study by Yancey et al. (2019) demonstrated an association between boldness, a biobehavioral trait reflecting social dominance and fearlessness, and enhanced task-switching performance during threat of shock relative to a no-shock (safe) condition.

Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy for Palliation of Hematuria Arising From Urothelial Carcinoma of the Kidney in Unfavorable Surgical Candidates.

Introduction: Hematuria can be a distressing and debilitating complication of urothelial carcinoma (UC) of the kidney for patients who are not candidates for surgery or ureteroscopic ablation. We retrospectively assessed the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for controlling gross hematuria in this patient population.

Materials And Methods: Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved review of the records, laboratory values, pathology, and imaging of 8 consecutive patients treated with SBRT over a 5-year period for uncontrolled gross hematuria caused by UC of the renal pelvis or calyces.

Reprint of: Using a co-twin control design to evaluate alternative trait measures as indices of liability for substance use disorders.

To establish a trait-dispositional variable as an indicator of liability for the development of substance use disorders (SUDs), the trait must share heritable variance with SUDs and its association should not be primarily attributable to a direct impact of SUDs on characteristics that define the trait. The current work applied a co-twin control (CTC) modeling approach to data from two monozygotic twin samples to investigate the degree to which different measures of trait-impulsiveness represent indicants of vulnerability to SUDs (liability indicators), or outcomes or concomitants of SUDs (exposure indicators). The Five Factor Model (FFM) trait of conscientiousness was assessed via self-report, and a counterpart neurobehavioral trait of disinhibition was assessed both through self-report and using self-report and brain response measures combined.

Toward a multimodal measurement model for the neurobehavioral trait of affiliative capacity.

A growing body of research supports the value of a multimodal assessment approach, drawing on measures from different response modalities, for clarifying how core biobehavioral processes relate to various clinical problems and dimensions of psychopathology. Using data for 507 healthy adults, the current study was undertaken to integrate self-report and neurophysiological (brain potential) measures as a step toward a multimodal measurement model for the trait of affiliative capacity (AFF) - a biobehavioral construct relevant to adaptive and maladaptive social-interpersonal functioning. Individuals low in AFF exhibit a lack of interpersonal connectedness, deficient empathy, and an exploitative-aggressive social style that may be expressed transdiagnostically in antagonistic externalizing or distress psychopathology.

Multi-omic comparison of Alzheimer's variants in human ESC-derived microglia reveals convergence at APOE.

Variations in many genes linked to sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD) show abundant expression in microglia, but relationships among these genes remain largely elusive. Here, we establish isogenic human ESC-derived microglia-like cell lines (hMGLs) harboring AD variants in CD33, INPP5D, SORL1, and TREM2 loci and curate a comprehensive atlas comprising ATAC-seq, ChIP-seq, RNA-seq, and proteomics datasets. AD-like expression signatures are observed in AD mutant SORL1 and TREM2 hMGLs, while integrative multi-omic analysis of combined epigenetic and expression datasets indicates up-regulation of APOE as a convergent pathogenic node.

Using a co-twin control design to evaluate alternative trait measures as indices of liability for substance use disorders.

To establish a trait-dispositional variable as an indicator of liability for the development of substance use disorders (SUDs), the trait must share heritable variance with SUDs and its association should not be primarily attributable to a direct impact of SUDs on characteristics that define the trait. The current work applied a co-twin control (CTC) modeling approach to data from two monozygotic twin samples to investigate the degree to which different measures of trait-impulsiveness represent indicants of vulnerability to SUDs (liability indicators), or outcomes or concomitants of SUDs (exposure indicators). The Five Factor Model (FFM) trait of conscientiousness was assessed via self-report, and a counterpart neurobehavioral trait of disinhibition was assessed both through self-report and using self-report and brain response measures combined.

Blunted Reward Sensitivity and Trait Disinhibition Interact to Predict Substance Use Problems.

Reward deficit models of addiction posit weaknesses in reward sensitivity to be promotive of substance dependence, while the externalizing spectrum model views substance problems as arising in large part from a general disinhibitory liability. The current study sought to integrate these perspectives by testing for separate and interactive associations of disinhibition and reward dysfunction with interview-assessed substance use disorders (SUDs). Community and college adults ( = 199) completed a scale measure of trait disinhibition and performed a gambling-feedback task yielding a neural index of reward sensitivity, the 'Reward Positivity' (RewP).

Differences in reported sun protection practices, skin cancer knowledge, and perceived risk for skin cancer between rural and urban high school students.

Purpose: The purpose of the current study was to evaluate differences in reported use of sun protection, tanning behaviors, skin cancer-related knowledge, and perceived risk between rural and urban high school students in a geographic area with high rates of melanoma.

Methods: A total of 1,570 high school students (56.8% female) from urban (6 schools) and rural (7 schools) geographic areas in Utah completed questionnaires assessing sun protection and tanning behaviors, skin cancer-related knowledge, and perceived risk for skin cancer.

A four-group experiment to improve Western high school students' sun protection behaviors.

Multicomponent skin cancer preventive interventions for adolescents that aim to decrease ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure and sunburns are particularly needed given their intentional tanning and infrequent use of sun protection. The purpose of this study was to conduct an early-phase study within the Multiphase Optimization Strategy framework that experimentally tested four unique intervention components targeting high school students' skin cancer prevention behaviors. Schools (11 total, N = 1,573 students) were assigned to receive one of four interventions: skin cancer education (control), education plus a sunscreen activity (to illustrate sunscreen's UVR-blocking properties), or behavior change worksheet (sun protection goal setting and planning) or receipt of a personalized UV damage photograph (photograph of facial damage).

Toward a neurobehavioral trait conceptualization of depression proneness.

The etiology of major depressive disorder is heterogeneous, and differing pathways leading to the development of depression are proposed to account for alternative variants of depressive illness and their distinct comorbidity patterns. The present study was undertaken as a step toward developing a model for conceptualizing and quantifying dispositional proneness to depression, marked by reduced neural sensitivity to rewarding events and more persistent occurrence of depressive symptomatology. Using data for college and community adult participants (N = 201), we sought to quantify variations in depression proneness by combining symptom indicators of persistent depressive conditions (dysthymic disorder, depressive personality) with a brain potential response that has been shown to index sensitivity to pleasurable events-the reward positivity (RewP; Proudfit, 2015).

Quantifying Dispositional Fear as Threat Sensitivity: Development and Initial Validation of a Model-Based Scale Measure.

The Research Domain Criteria initiative aims to reorient the focus of psychopathology research toward biobehavioral constructs that cut across different modalities of measurement, including self-report and neurophysiology. Constructs within the Research Domain Criteria framework are intentionally transdiagnostic, with the construct of "acute threat," for example, broadly relevant to clinical problems and associated traits involving fearfulness and stress reactivity. A potentially valuable referent for research on the construct of acute threat is a structural model of fear/fearlessness questionnaires known to predict variations in physiological threat reactivity as indexed by startle potentiation.

Boldness moderates the effects of external threat on performance within a task-switching paradigm.

Set shifting involves the capacity to effectively and efficiently direct mental resources in the service of dynamically changing goal representations. This capacity is important in everyday life and may be vital in situations where processing resources needed for adaptive action may be diverted by cues for external danger or threat (e.g.