Autonomic regulation in fetuses with congenital heart disease.

Background: Exposure to antenatal stressors affects autonomic regulation in fetuses. Whether the presence of congenital heart disease (CHD) alters the developmental trajectory of autonomic regulation is not known.

Aims/study Design: This prospective observational cohort study aimed to further characterize autonomic regulation in fetuses with CHD; specifically hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), transposition of the great arteries (TGA), and tetralogy of Fallot (TOF).

Association of Researcher Characteristics with Views on Return of Incidental Findings from Genomic Research.

Whole exome/ genome sequencing (WES/WGS) is now commonly used in research and is increasingly used in clinical care to identify the genetic basis of rare and unknown diseases. The management of incidental findings (IFs) generated through these analyses is debated within the research community. To examine how views regarding genomic research IFs are associated with researcher characteristics and experiences, we surveyed genetic professionals and assessed the effect of professional background and experience on their opinions.

PrEP in substance abuse treatment: a qualitative study of treatment provider perspectives.

Objectives: To examine substance abuse treatment providers' views on engaging clients in Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) care and research trials.

Methods: Thirty-six medical and counseling service providers in six New York City outpatient substance abuse treatment programs participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews. Thematic content analysis was conducted by three coders, independently.

Perception matters for clinical perfectionism and social anxiety.

Despite research documenting a relationship between social anxiety and perfectionism, very little research has examined the relationship between social anxiety and clinical perfectionism, defined as the combination of high personal standards and high maladaptive perfectionistic evaluative concern. In the current studies we examined whether clinical perfectionism predicted social anxiety in a large sample of undergraduates (N=602), in a clinical sample of participants diagnosed with social anxiety disorder (SAD; N=180), and by using a variance decomposition model of self- and informant-report of perfectionism (N=134). Using self-report, we found that an interaction of personal standards and evaluative concern predicted both social interaction anxiety and fear of scrutiny, but not in the theorized direction.

The double helix takes the witness stand: behavioral and neuropsychiatric genetics in court.

Data on neuropsychiatric and behavioral genetics have attracted legal interest, as attorneys explore their use in criminal and civil cases. These developments may assist judges and juries in making difficult judgments-but they bring substantial risk of misinterpretation and misuse.

Impact of behavioral genetic evidence on the adjudication of criminal behavior.

Recent advances in behavioral genetics suggest a modest relationship among certain gene variants, early childhood experiences, and criminal behavior. Although scientific research examining this link is still at an early stage, genetic data are already being introduced in criminal trials. However, the extent to which such evidence is likely to affect jurors' decisions has not been explored.

'There's no place like home': perceptions of home-based HIV testing in Lesotho.

HIV testing has the potential to reduce HIV transmission by identifying and counseling individuals with HIV, reducing risk behaviors, linking persons with HIV to care and earlier treatment, and reducing perinatal transmission. In Lesotho, a high HIV prevalence country in which a large proportion of the population has never tested for HIV, home-based testing (HBT) may be an important strategy to increase HIV testing. We identified factors influencing acceptability of HIV prevention strategies among a convenience sample of 200 pregnant or post-partum Basotho women and 30 Basotho men.

Exploring stakeholder perceptions of facilitators and barriers to using needle exchange programs in Yunnan Province, China.

Injection drug use is an ongoing urban health crisis in China and one of the largest drivers of the transmission of HIV/AIDS. Sentinel surveillance sites in Yunnan province show upwards of 20% of injection drug users (IDUs) are HIV positive. Though the Ministry of Health has scaled-up needle exchange programs (NEPs), they have not received official government recognition nor have they been extensively evaluated to explore factors influencing their acceptability and feasibility.

Informed consent for return of incidental findings in genomic research.

Purpose: Researchers face the dilemma of how to obtain consent for return of incidental findings from genomic research. We surveyed and interviewed investigators and study participants, with the goal of providing suggestions for how to shape the consent process.

Methods: We performed an online survey of 254 US genetic researchers identified through the NIH RePORTER database, abstracts from the 2011 American Society of Human Genetics meeting, and qualitative semi-structured interviews with 28 genomic researchers and 20 research participants.

Use of a novel technology to track adherence to product use in a microbicide trial of short duration (MTN-007).

Adherence measurement in microbicide trials is challenging. To decrease recall and social desirability bias, we used an interactive voice response system (IVR) in a rectal microbicide trial. Forty-six participants were asked to report product use daily for 1 week.

Researchers' views on return of incidental genomic research results: qualitative and quantitative findings.

Purpose: Comprehensive genomic analysis including exome and genome sequencing is increasingly being utilized in research studies, leading to the generation of incidental genetic findings. It is unclear how researchers plan to deal with incidental genetic findings.

Methods: We conducted a survey of the practices and attitudes of 234 members of the US genetic research community and performed qualitative semistructured interviews with 28 genomic researchers to understand their views and experiences with incidental genetic research findings.

Integrating systems-based practice, community psychiatry, and recovery into residency training.

Background: Behavioral health services involving multiple systems of care are increasingly being provided in community as well as hospital settings. Residents therefore should be familiar with multiple systems and the role of the psychiatrist in these systems. The authors describe a curriculum incorporating principles of systems-based practice (SBP), community psychiatry, and recovery.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulator with controllable pulse parameters (cTMS).

We describe a novel transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) device that uses a circuit topology incorporating two energy-storage capacitors and two insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) to generate near-rectangular electric field E-field) pulses with adjustable number, polarity, duration, and amplitude of the pulse phases. This controllable-pulse-parameter TMS (cTMS) device can induce E-field pulses with phase widths of 5-200 µs and positive/negative phase amplitude ratio of 1-10. Compared to conventional monophasic and biphasic TMS, cTMS reduces energy dissipation by 78-82% and 55-57% and decreases coil heating by 15-33% and 31-41%, respectively.

Unconscious conflict of interest: a Jewish perspective.

In contemporary medicine, it is not always obvious whether the acceptance of a benefit constitutes a conflict of interest. A particular area of controversy has been the impact of small gifts or other benefits from pharmaceutical companies on physicians' behaviour. Typically, in such cases, the gift is not an explicit reward for cooperation; the physician does not perceive the gift as an attempt to influence his or her judgement; and the reward is relatively minor.

Expected monotonicity--a desirable property for evidence measures?

We consider here the principle of 'evidential consistency' - that as one gathers more data, any well-behaved evidence measure should, in some sense, approach the true answer. Evidential consistency is essential for the genome-scan design (GWAS or linkage), where one selects the most promising locus(i) for follow-up, expecting that new data will increase evidence for the correct hypothesis. Earlier work [Vieland, Hum Hered 2006;61:144-156] showed that many popular statistics do not satisfy this principle; Vieland concluded that the problem stems from fundamental difficulties in how we measure evidence and argued for determining criteria to evaluate evidence measures.

Impaired timing precision produced by striatal D2 receptor overexpression is mediated by cognitive and motivational deficits.

Increased striatal dopamine D2 receptor activity is thought to contribute to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. To model this condition in mice, Kellendonk et al. (2006) generated transgenic mice that selectively overexpress the D2 receptor in striatum (D2OE).

Evaluating Project Connect: improving juvenile probationers' mental health and substance use service access.

Project Connect is a multilayered county-specific program aimed at linking juvenile probationers to needed mental health and substance use services. In four NY counties, the intervention included cooperative agreements between probation and mental health authorities, program materials to facilitate referral, in-service training for probation officers, and systematic screening for mental health needs. Charts for 583 Baseline youths were reviewed and compared with 594 youths undergoing intake under Project Connect.

Integrating HIV care and HIV prevention: legal, policy and programmatic recommendations.

Since the start of the HIV epidemic we have witnessed significant advances in our understanding of the impact of HIV disease worldwide. Furthermore, breakthroughs in treatment and the rapid expansion of HIV care and treatment programmes in heavily impacted countries over the past 5 years are potentially critical assets in a comprehensive approach to controlling the continued spread of HIV globally. A strategic approach to controlling the epidemic requires continued and comparable expansion and integration of care, treatment and prevention programmes.

Juvenile probation officers' mental health decision making.

We reviewed case records for 583 juvenile delinquency intakes in four county juvenile probation offices; 14.4% were receiving mental health or substance use services at case opening, and 24.9% were newly identified during probation contact.

Multipoint lods provide reliable linkage evidence despite unknown limiting distribution: type I error probabilities decrease with sample size for multipoint lods and mods.

We investigate the behavior of type I error rates in model-based multipoint (MP) linkage analysis, as a function of sample size (N). We consider both MP lods (i.e.

Divergent fates of the medical humanities in psychiatry and internal medicine: should psychiatry be rehumanized?

Objective: To determine the degree to which the medical humanities have been integrated into the fields of internal medicine and psychiatry, the authors assessed the presence of medical humanities articles in selected psychiatry and internal medicine journals from 1950 to 2000.

Methods: The journals searched were the three highest-ranking psychiatry and internal medicine journals on the Institute for Scientific Information's Impact Factor rankings that were published in English and aimed at a clinical audience. Operationalized criteria defining the medical humanities allowed the percentage of text in the selected journals constituting medical humanities to be quantified.

Culture and psychiatric symptoms in Puerto Rican children: longitudinal results from one ethnic group in two contexts.

Background: The development of youth psychopathology may be associated with direct and continuous contact with a different culture (acculturation) and to distress related to this process (cultural stress). We examine cultural experiences of Puerto Rican families in relation to youth psychiatric symptoms in two different contexts: one in which migrant Puerto Ricans reside on the mainland as an ethnic minority and another in which they reside in their place of origin.

Sample: Probability samples of 10- to 13-year-old youth of Puerto Rican background living in the South Bronx, New York City (SB) and in the San Juan Metropolitan area in Puerto Rico (PR) (N = 1,271) were followed over time.

It's not just what you say: relationships of HIV dislosure and risk reduction among MSM in the post-HAART era.

In the post-HAART era, critical questions arise as to what factors affect disclosure decisions and how these decisions are associated with factors such as high-risk behaviors and partner variables. We interviewed 1,828 HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM), of whom 46% disclosed to all partners. Among men with casual partners, 41.

Adherence to antiretroviral therapy in a context of universal access, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Adherence is integral to improving and maintaining the health and quality of life of people living with HIV. Two-hundred HIV-positive adults recruited from teaching hospitals and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Rio de Janeiro City were assessed on socio-demographic factors, adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and psychosocial factors hypothesized to be associated with ART. Predictors of non-adherence were analyzed using bivariate and multivariate analyses.