Patterns of West Nile Virus in the Northeastern United States Using Negative Binomial and Mechanistic Trait-Based Models.

West Nile virus (WNV) primarily infects birds and mosquitoes but has also caused over 2,000 human deaths, and >50,000 reported human cases in the United States. Expected numbers of WNV neuroinvasive cases for the present were described for the Northeastern United States, using a negative binomial model. Changes in temperature-based suitability for WNV due to climate change were examined for the next decade using a temperature-trait model.

The Trump Administration and the COVID-19 crisis: Exploring the warning-response problems and missed opportunities of a public health emergency.

This article examines the Trump Administration's inability to mount a timely and effective response to the COVID-19 outbreak, despite ample warning. Through an empirical exploration guided by three explanatory perspectives-psychological, bureau-organizational, and agenda-political-developed from the strategic surprise, public administration, and crisis management literature, the authors seek to shed light on the mechanisms that contributed to the underestimation of the coronavirus threat by the Trump Administration and the slow and mismanaged federal response. The analysis highlights the extent to which the factors identified by previous studies of policy surprise and failure in other security domains are relevant for health security.

The Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders Compared With Diagnosis-Specific Protocols for Anxiety Disorders: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Transdiagnostic interventions have been developed to address barriers to the dissemination of evidence-based psychological treatments, but only a few preliminary studies have compared these approaches with existing evidence-based psychological treatments.

Objective: To determine whether the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders (UP) is at least as efficacious as single-disorder protocols (SDPs) in the treatment of anxiety disorders.

Design, Setting, And Participants: From June 23, 2011, to March 5, 2015, a total of 223 patients at an outpatient treatment center with a principal diagnosis of panic disorder with or without agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or social anxiety disorder were randomly assigned by principal diagnosis to the UP, an SDP, or a waitlist control condition.

The pregnane xenobiotic receptor, a prominent liver factor, has actions in the midbrain for neurosteroid synthesis and behavioral/neural plasticity of female rats.

A novel factor of interest for growth/plasticity in the brain is pregnane xenobiotic receptor (PXR). PXR is a liver factor known for its role in xenobiotic clearance and cholesterol metabolism. It is expressed in the brain, suggesting a potential role for plasticity, particularly involving cholesterol-based steroids and neurosteroids.

Novel receptor targets for production and action of allopregnanolone in the central nervous system: a focus on pregnane xenobiotic receptor.

Neurosteroids are cholesterol-based hormones that can be produced in the brain, independent of secretion from peripheral endocrine glands, such as the gonads and adrenals. A focus in our laboratory for over 25 years has been how production of the pregnane neurosteroid, allopregnanolone, is regulated and the novel (i.e.

Gestational or acute restraint in adulthood reduces levels of 5α-reduced testosterone metabolites in the hippocampus and produces behavioral inhibition of adult male rats.

Stressors, during early life or adulthood, can alter steroid-sensitive behaviors, such as exploration, anxiety, and/or cognitive processes. We investigated if exposure to acute stressors in adulthood may alter behavioral and neuroendocrine responses of male rats that were exposed to gestational stress or not. We hypothesized that rats exposed to gestational and acute stress may show behavioral inhibition, increased corticosterone, and altered androgen levels in the hippocampus.

Effects and Mechanisms of 3α,5α,-THP on Emotion, Motivation, and Reward Functions Involving Pregnane Xenobiotic Receptor.

Progestogens [progesterone (P(4)) and its products] play fundamental roles in the development and/or function of the central nervous system during pregnancy. We, and others, have investigated the role of pregnane neurosteroids for a plethora of functional effects beyond their pro-gestational processes. Emerging findings regarding the effects, mechanisms, and sources of neurosteroids have challenged traditional dogma about steroid action.

3alpha-androstanediol, but not testosterone, attenuates age-related decrements in cognitive, anxiety, and depressive behavior of male rats.

Some hippocampally-influenced affective and/or cognitive processes decline with aging. The role of androgens in this process is of interest. Testosterone (T) is aromatized to estrogen, and reduced to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is converted to 5alpha-androstane, 3alpha, 17alpha-diol (3alpha-diol).