Framing a Needed Discourse on Health Disparities and Social Inequities: Drawing Lessons from a Pandemic.

COVID-19 provides numerous opportunities for policy makers to consider matters of social equity in relation to the field of public health. Specifically, by reflecting on health disparities in relation to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on minority and historically underserved populations, we can leverage a needed discourse on health outcomes for many communities. Grounded in the social determinants of health conceptual framework, this essay explores the application of the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 to vulnerable populations and communities of color for a discussion of strategies for minimizing health disparities.

Structural and Contextual Cues in Third-Person Pronoun Interpretation by Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Their Neurotypical Peers.

This study investigates the use of structural and discourse contextual cues in the interpretation of third-person pronouns by children and adolescents with autism and their neurotypical peers. Results show that referent-biasing contextual information influences pronominal interpretation and modulates looking patterns in both groups compared to a context-neutral condition. These results go against the predictions of Weak Central Coherence and the notion that pragmatics in general is impaired in ASD, since the ASD group was able to use details in discourse context to influence the pronominal interpretation process.

Emotional Functioning and Sense of Hope as Contributors to Healthy Aging.

Cognitive and physical factors affect participation in later life. It is imperative to explore the contribution of emotional factors on older adults' participation and wellbeing. Seventy-eight older adults were recruited for this cross-sectional study and grouped based on their level of independence.

Development of a Black Caucus within the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN): Representing the Perspectives of Black Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM).

Black men who have sex with men (MSM) have disproportionate HIV disease burden in the United States. Black MSM have been underrepresented in biomedical research, including HIV clinical trials, due to a myriad of socio-structural, socio-cultural, and psychosocial factors. The HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 061, a feasibility study of a multi-component HIV prevention intervention for Black MSM in six US cities, incorporated the development and implementation of a Black Caucus as a culturally grounded model for the integration of Black MSM in clinical trials and research in HPTN.

Trajectories of Evidence Based Treatment for School Children with Autism: What's the Right Level for the Implementation?

Evidence-based practices (EBP) for children with autism are under-used in special-education schools. No research compared child-level versus teacher-level influences on EBP use, which could guide implementation strategies. We derived longitudinal profiles of EBP receipt by children (N = 234) in 69 autism-support classrooms, over an academic year.

Conformity to prototypical therapeutic principles and its relation with change in reflective functioning in three treatments for borderline personality disorder.

Objective: To examine conformity to prototypical therapeutic principles and its relation with change in reflective functioning in 3 treatments for borderline personality disorder (BPD).

Method: Early phase videotaped sessions from a randomized-controlled trial of year-long transference-focused psychotherapy (TFP; n = 27), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT; n = 26), and supportive psychodynamic therapy (SPT; n = 29) were coded using the Psychotherapy Q-sort (Jones, 1985). Ratings were compared to experts' ratings of ideal TFP, DBT, and mentalizing-enhancing principles to quantify conformity to ideal treatments.

The effects of a novel bicarbonate loading protocol on serum bicarbonate concentration: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Previous studies have shown that sodium bicarbonate ingestion may enhance intense exercise performance, but may also cause severe gastrointestinal distress. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a modified sodium bicarbonate (SB) ingestion protocol would elevate serum bicarbonate concentration more than previous methods without causing gastrointestinal distress.

Methods: In randomized order, seven (5 men, 2 women) elite middle-distance runners ingested either placebo, Modified SB (600 mg·kg over 19.

Music Is More Enjoyable With Two Ears, Even If One of Them Receives a Degraded Signal Provided By a Cochlear Implant.

Objectives: Cochlear implants (CIs) restore speech perception in quiet but they also eliminate or distort many acoustic cues that are important for music enjoyment. Unfortunately, quantifying music enjoyment by CI users has been difficult because comparisons must rely on their recollection of music before they lost their hearing. Here, we aimed to assess music enjoyment in CI users using a readily interpretable reference based on acoustic hearing.

Leveraging phytochemicals: the plant phylogeny predicts sources of novel antibacterial compounds.

Aim: The goal of this study was to use phylogenetic evidence to determine plant families with high representation of antibacterial activity and identify potential sources to focus on for antibacterial drug discovery.

Materials & Methods: We reconstructed the molecular phylogeny of plant taxa with antibacterial activity and mapped antibacterial mechanisms of action on the phylogeny.

Results: The phylogeny highlighted seven plant families (Combretaceae, Cupressaceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae, Lauraceae, Myrtaceae and Zingiberaceae) with disproportionately represented antibacterial activity.

The Potential Role for Host Genetic Profiling in Screening for Chlamydia-Associated Tubal Factor Infertility (TFI)-New Perspectives.

Host immunogenetic factors can affect late complications of urogenital infections with . These findings are creating new avenues for updating existing risk prediction models for -associated tubal factor infertility (TFI). Research into host factors and its utilization may therefore have future implications for diagnosing -induced infertility.

Morphine Dose Optimization in Critically Ill Pediatric Patients With Acute Respiratory Failure: A Population Pharmacokinetic-Pharmacogenomic Study.

Objective: To develop a pharmacokinetic-pharmacogenomic population model of morphine in critically ill children with acute respiratory failure.

Design: Prospective pharmacokinetic-pharmacogenomic observational study.

Setting: Thirteen PICUs across the United States.

Hallucinations Beyond Voices: A Conceptual Review of the Phenomenology of Altered Perception in Psychosis.

Recent psychiatric research and treatment initiatives have tended to move away from traditional diagnostic categories and have focused instead on transdiagnostic phenomena, such as hallucinations. However, this emphasis on isolated experiences may artificially limit the definition of such phenomena and ignore the rich, complex, and dynamic changes occurring simultaneously in other domains of experience. This article reviews the literature on a range of experiential features associated with psychosis, with a focus on their relevance for hallucinations.

New Insights on Solid-State Changes in the Levothyroxine Sodium Pentahydrate during Dehydration and its Relationship to Chemical Instability.

Levothyroxine sodium pentahydrate (LEVO) tablets have been on the US market since the mid-twentieth century and remain the most highly prescribed product. Unfortunately, levothyroxine sodium tablets have also been one of the most highly recalled products due to potency and dissolution failures on stability. In 2008, the assay limits were tightened, yet the recalls did not decline, which highlights the serious quality concerns remaining to be elucidated.

Validation of the MUSIC Model of Motivation Inventory for use with cognitive training for schizophrenia spectrum disorders: A multinational study.

Aim: Low motivation is a core symptom of schizophrenia which significantly impacts successful engagement in and benefit from psychosocial treatments. Therefore, it is important for clinicians to design psychosocial treatments to effectively motivate and engage patients during the treatment. The MUSIC® Model of Academic Motivation Inventory (MMI) is an 18-item instrument with five scales that assess students' motivation during academic tasks.

Attraction Versus Action in Pedophilic Desire: The Role of Personality Traits and Childhood Experience.

Objective: Comparison of pedophilic individuals who do and do not refrain from sexually engaging with children may offer critically important information regarding the differential contributors to pedophilic attraction versus behavior. This study compared 5 traits that are potentially contributory to pedophilic attraction or behavior in both minor-attracted persons (MAPs) who refrain from sexually engaging with minors (nonacting MAPs) and those who have acted on pedophilic attractions and subsequently entered the criminal justice system (forensic MAPs).

Methods: Subjects included 195 nonacting MAPs, 50 forensic MAPs, and 60 healthy controls.

DARK Classics in Chemical Neuroscience: Ibogaine.

The West African iboga plant has been used for centuries by the Bwiti and Mbiri tribes to induce hallucinations during religious ceremonies. Ibogaine, the principal alkaloid responsible for iboga's psychedelic properties, was isolated and sold as an antidepressant in France for decades before its adverse effects precipitated its removal from the market. An ibogaine resurgence in the 1960s was driven by U.

Acceptability and feasibility of a Fitbit physical activity monitor for endometrial cancer survivors.

Objective: Endometrial cancer survivors are the least physically active of all cancer survivor groups and exhibit up to 70% obesity. While studies suggest lifestyle interventions result in improved health outcomes, recruitment and availability of these programs are limited. The purpose was to evaluate the acceptability and validity of the Fitbit Alta™ physical activity monitor (Fitbit) for socioculturally diverse endometrial cancer survivors.

Introduction of the DSM-5 levels of Personality Functioning Questionnaire.

With the introduction in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) of a hybrid system of personality disorder assessment, the ability to assess patients' traits, as well as their level of personality functioning, has become increasingly important. To assess this criterion, the DSM-5 Levels of Personality Functioning Questionnaire (DLOPFQ) was developed. The DLOPFQ assesses individuals' self-impairments and other impairments in several domains (self-direction, identity, empathy, and intimacy) and across 2 contexts (work/school and relationships).

Effects of Theory-Based Behavioral Interventions on Physical Activity Among Overweight and Obese Female Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Purpose: To determine whether theory-based physical activity (PA) interventions for overweight and obese female cancer survivors lead to increased PA and improved health.

Methods: This systematic review examined randomized controlled trials analyzing the impact of theory-based PA interventions on overweight and obese female cancer survivors through December 2016. Searches of 5 electronic databases revealed 10 articles that included 1351 participants who met the inclusion criteria.

Advances in transference-focused psychotherapy derived from the study of borderline personality disorder: clinical insights with a focus on mechanism.

The most current conceptualization of personality pathology emphasizes the assessment of the severity of selected domains of functioning involving lack of accurate perceptions of self and others that are common across the personality disorder categories. Advances in our understanding of personality pathology have stimulated further development of Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (TFP) for patients with borderline personality disorder, including treatment focus on both behavior and mental representations of self and others, the trajectory of change in TFP, and the extension of TFP principles to the entire domain of personality pathology.

Applying systems thinking to inform studies of wildlife trade in primates.

Wildlife trade presents a major threat to primate populations, which are in demand from local to international scales for a variety of uses from food and traditional medicine to the exotic pet trade. We argue that an interdisciplinary framework to facilitate integration of socioeconomic, anthropological, and biological data across multiple spatial and temporal scales is essential to guide the study of wildlife trade dynamics and its impacts on primate populations. Here, we present a new way to design research on wildlife trade in primates using a systems thinking framework.

The Relation Between Mastery, Anticipated Stigma and Depression Among Older Adults in a Primary Care Setting.

The current study evaluates the interaction between mastery, depression, and psychological barriers to care among older adults in a primary care setting, including the longitudinal effects of anticipated stigma and mastery on depressive symptoms. The sample was composed of 70 depressed older adults (age ≥ 60) who were newly recommended antidepressant treatment by their physicians. This cohort is part of a larger study examining the usefulness of the Treatment Initiation and Participation program to improve medication adherence.

Clinical Characteristics of Comorbid Narcissistic Personality Disorder in Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder.

This study examines psychopathology and clinical characteristics of patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and comorbid narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) from two international randomized controlled trials. From a combined sample of 188 patients with BPD, 25 also fulfilled criteria for a comorbid diagnosis of NPD according to DSM-IV. The BPD patients with comorbid NPD, compared to the BPD patients without comorbid NPD, showed significantly more BPD criteria (M = 7.