Association of Caregiving Receipt With Mental Health Utilization in a National Cohort of Older Adults.

Objective: There exist significant age disparities in mental health (MH) utilization, such that older adults, including older veterans, are much less likely to use MH services. In-home caregivers represent a novel, yet understudied, pathway to increase appropriate utilization. We sought to examine the association between receiving caregiving assistance and MH utilization and test moderation effects of cognitive status and depression severity in a sample of older veterans.

A Qualitative Study of Barriers to Anal Cancer Screenings in US Veterans Living with HIV.

People living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are at high risk for anal cancer. Anal cancer screenings are recommended annually for US veterans with HIV. Screenings can identify treatable precursor lesions and prevent cancer development.

Duration of Time CD4/CD8 Ratio is Below 0.5 is Associated with Progression to Anal Cancer in Patients with HIV and High-Grade Dysplasia.

Background: A CD4/CD8 ratio < 0.5 is associated with increased risk of advanced anal disease (AAD) but it is unknown if duration below 0.5 matters.

Influence of Care Network Characteristics on Physician Visit Experiences for Black, White, and Hispanic Older Adults With Dementia.

Objectives: Most older adults with dementia are assisted by multiple caregivers, but the relationship of care network structure with health care access and quality is underexamined. We sought to test the associations of care network characteristics with the physician visit experience for older adults with dementia across diverse racial/ethnic groups.

Methods: We used data on Medicare beneficiaries (aged 65+) with dementia from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (2015-2019) to fit logistic regression models to test associations between physician visit outcomes and (a) size of the potential care network and (b) proportion of potential care network members (PCNMs) currently helping with daily functioning tasks.

Psychological well-being and cognitive aging in Black, Native American, and White Alzheimer's Disease Research Center participants.

Psychological well-being is associated with cognition in later life but has not been examined across diverse populations-including minoritized communities at disproportionately high risk of dementia. Further, most previous work has not been able to examine links between specific facets of psychological well-being and performance within distinct cognitive domains that can capture subclinical impairment. Using a well-characterized sample followed through enrollment in an NIH-funded Alzheimer's Disease Center, we sought to test these associations within three racial groups at baseline.

Racial Differences in Associations of Cognitive Health Status With Happiness, Helplessness, and Hopelessness Among Older Adults: An Exploratory Study.

Background: The relationship between healthy and positive aging and dementia and cognitive impairment has received limited attention in the field of aging. Affect impacts cognitive changes and processes, and cognitive impairment is associated with affective comorbidities. The purpose of the study was to examine (a) whether happiness, helplessness, and hopelessness are linked to cognitive health status, and (b) whether these associations differ by race.

"Hopes and wishes": Goals of high-need, high-cost older patients and their caregivers.

Objective: Integration of patient-identified goals is a critical element of shared decision-making and patient-provider communication. There is limited information on the goals of patients with multiple medical conditions and high healthcare utilization. We aimed to identify and categorize the goals described by "high-need, high-cost" (HNHC) older patients and their caregivers.

Depressive role impairment and subthreshold depression in older black and white women: race differences in the clinical significance criterion.

Objectives: We examined race differences in the DSM-IV clinical significance criterion (CSC), an indicator of depressive role impairment, and its impact on assessment outcomes in older white and black women with diagnosed and subthreshold depression.

Design: We conducted a secondary analysis of a community-based interview study, using group comparisons and logistic regression.

Setting: Lower-income neighborhoods in a Midwestern city.

Analyzing theory of mind impairment in patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia.

Objective: Behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and theory of mind (ToM) have common neuroanatomical aspects. This pilot study analyzed the qualitative features of ToM relatively to the site of prefrontal atrophy, aiming to identify a neurobehavioral pattern of bvFTD.

Method: Fourteen bvFTD patients were compared with 14 healthy subjects with similar age, years of schooling, gender distribution, and social background.

Ageism in informal care network members of older women.

Objectives: Negative attitudes toward aging are common among formal healthcare providers, but have been infrequently assessed among informal caregivers providing assistance to older adults. The current study sought to identify factors associated with ageism toward older women.

Design: Multivariate hierarchical linear regression model.

Apathy in Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease: Psychometric Validation of the Apathy Evaluation Scale.

Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to validate the Apathy Evaluation Scale, self-rated version (AES-S), and assess the severity of apathy in a cognitively healthy middle-aged cohort at risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Method: Three hundred and sixteen middle-aged adults were selected to represent a subset of the Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center Clinical Core: the Investigating Memory in People At-risk, Causes and Treatments cohort.

Results: An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with varimax rotation identified 3 subscales: apathy, disinterest, and social withdrawal factors.

A group-based brief intervention for surgery patients with high-risk substance use.

Objective: This study examined the feasibility and efficacy of a psychosocial intervention to address high-risk substance use in patients scheduled for elective surgery.

Method: A group-format intervention, based on motivational interviewing principles, was provided prior to elective surgery to 107 participants with at-risk substance use, identified using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test - Condensed (AUDIT-C) and self-report of illicit drug use. Patient satisfaction was assessed with an anonymous survey.

Selective pharmacologic inhibition of a PASTA kinase increases Listeria monocytogenes susceptibility to β-lactam antibiotics.

While β-lactam antibiotics are a critical part of the antimicrobial arsenal, they are frequently compromised by various resistance mechanisms, including changes in penicillin binding proteins of the bacterial cell wall. Genetic deletion of the penicillin binding protein and serine/threonine kinase-associated protein (PASTA) kinase in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been shown to restore β-lactam susceptibility. However, the mechanism remains unclear, and whether pharmacologic inhibition would have the same effect is unknown.

When do sphenoidal electrodes yield additional data to that obtained with antero-temporal electrodes?

The advantage of using sphenoidal (SE) over antero-temporal electrodes (ATE) remains controversial among epileptologists. Yet, in a recently published study of 17 patients with seizures of antero-temporal origin (Kanner et al., 1995), we demonstrated that SE placed under fluoroscopic guidance (FPSE), in order to insure that their recording tips are positioned immediately below the foramen ovale (FO), yielded a significant advantage over SE placed with the standard blind method of insertion (BPSE), in both interictal and ictal recordings.

The utility of placing sphenoidal electrodes under the foramen ovale with fluoroscopic guidance.

Although sphenoidal electrodes are widely used to detect epileptiform activity, there is no agreement on an optimal target to which electrodes should be aimed. The purpose of this study was to determine whether fluoroscopic guidance is a reliable method for placing electrodes directly below the foramen ovale and whether such positioning enhances their capacity to detect epileptiform activity when compared to similar electrodes placed blindly into the infratemporal fossa. We examined the surface/sphenoidal EEG recordings of 17 patients with intractable partial seizures of anterotemporal origin, after fluoroscopically placed sphenoidal electrodes (FPSE) had been inserted to lie just below the foramen ovale.