Mental Health among Chicanos and Chicanas: Barriers to Mental Health Care, Consequences of Disparities, and Resources

Mexican Americans, or Chicanos and Chicanas, face many barriers to mental health care. This literature review was conducted by the Collective Corazón—a VCU student organization, mentored by Dr. Indira Sultanić, that addresses Latinx health equity through service and advocacy—in order to examine the underlying causes and consequences of disparities in mental health in Chicanos and Chicanas. Some of the barriers that affect mental health care in Mexican Americans are racial inequities and discrimination, the societal and/or cultural stigma associated with receiving care, language barriers, lack of health insurance, and legal status. Furthermore, among Chicanos, machismo culture is associated with an increased risk for depression and higher stress levels. Colorism has also been correlated with depression among Chicanos with darker skin phenotypes. Cultural identity also plays a role in mental health for Mexican Americans; a balance of Mexican and American culture is associated with a decreased risk for depression. Among Chicanas, there may be justified mistrust of healthcare systems and services due to historical events. The Latina paradox also has unintended health consequences; Latina women are not screened for prenatal depression as often as other ethnic groups. Lastly, are mental health resources for Latinx communities, like Therapy for Latinx and The Focus on You. However, this review argues that in order to reduce the mental health disparities that Chicanos and Chicanas face, there must be increased awareness of the disparities as well as changes in the healthcare system that address current inequities and barriers.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/1408/thumbnail.jp

Health Disparities in Afro-Latinx Populations: Chronic Health Diseases, Linguistic and Cultural Competency, and Inequities and Barriers in Richmond, Virginia

Afro-Latinx individuals face health disparities that differ from those faced by white Latinx individuals. This literature review was conducted by the Collective Corazón—a VCU student organization, mentored by Dr. Indira Sultanić, that addresses Latinx health equity through service and advocacy—in order to examine the underlying causes of Afro-Latinx health disparities. Skin color is a predictor of health, life expectancy, and quality of life for many Latinx individuals. On average, Afro-Latinx individuals in particular have less access to education, fewer financial freedoms, and poorer health outcomes. The Afro-Latinx community also describes higher rates of discrimination compared to white Latinx individuals. As a result, Afro-Latinx individuals suffer from higher rates of chronic illness, stress, anxiety, and depression. Furthermore, due to a lower average socioeconomic status and decreased education access that many Afro-Latinx individuals face, the prevalence and incidence of chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, are higher for such populations when compared to national averages. Additionally, COVID-19 has exacerbated inequities and unequal access to resources; chronic comorbidities that Afro-Latinx individuals have are also predictors of poor COVID-19 outcomes. In Richmond in particular, another barrier that affects the health of many Afro-Latinx populations is the lack of access to healthcare services and/or insurance. This review argues that increasing cultural competency and racial equity trainings in healthcare systems, addressing social determinants of health, and encouraging connections with community leaders are ways to reduce health disparities that Afro-Latinx individuals face.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/1407/thumbnail.jp

A Fibreoptic Endoscopic Study of Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding at Bugando Medical Centre in Northwestern Tanzania: a Retrospective Review of 240 Cases.

Upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding is recognized as a common and potentially life-threatening abdominal emergency that needs a prompt assessment and aggressive emergency treatment. A retrospective study was undertaken at Bugando Medical Centre in northwestern Tanzania between March 2010 and September 2011 to describe our own experiences with fibreoptic upper GI endoscopy in the management of patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding in our setting and compare our results with those from other centers in the world. A total of 240 patients representing 18.7% of all patients (i.e. 1292) who had fibreoptic upper GI endoscopy during the study period were studied. Males outnumbered female by a ratio of 2.1:1. Their median age was 37 years and most of patients (60.0%) were aged 40 years and below. The vast majority of the patients (80.4%) presented with haematemesis alone followed by malaena alone in 9.2% of cases. The use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, alcohol and smoking prior to the onset of bleeding was recorded in 7.9%, 51.7% and 38.3% of cases respectively. Previous history of peptic ulcer disease was reported in 22(9.2%) patients. Nine (3.8%) patients were HIV positive. The source of bleeding was accurately identified in 97.7% of patients. Diagnostic accuracy was greater within the first 24 h of the bleeding onset, and in the presence of haematemesis. Oesophageal varices were the most frequent cause of upper GI bleeding (51.3%) followed by peptic ulcers in 25.0% of cases. The majority of patients (60.8%) were treated conservatively. Endoscopic and surgical treatments were performed in 30.8% and 5.8% of cases respectively. 140 (58.3%) patients received blood transfusion. The median length of hospitalization was 8 days and it was significantly longer in patients who underwent surgical treatment and those with higher Rockall scores (P < 0.001). Rebleeding was reported in 3.3% of the patients. The overall mortality rate of 11.7% was significantly higher in patients with variceal bleeding, shock, hepatic decompensation, HIV infection, comorbidities, malignancy, age > 60 years and in patients with higher Rockall scores and those who underwent surgery (P < 0.001). Oesophageal varices are the commonest cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding in our environment and it is associated with high morbidity and mortality. The diagnostic accuracy of fibreoptic endoscopy was related to the time interval between the onset of bleeding and endoscopy. Therefore, it is recommended that early endoscopy should be performed within 24 h of the onset of bleeding

Query Expansion in Resource-Scarce Languages: A Multilingual Framework Utilizing Document Structure

Retrievals in response to queries to search engines in resource-scarce languages often produce no results, which annoys the user. In such cases, at least partially relevant documents must be retrieved. We propose a novel multilingual framework, MultiStructPRF, which expands the query with related terms by (i) using a resource-rich assisting language and (ii) giving varied importance to the expansion terms depending on their position of occurrence in the document. Our system uses the help of an assisting language to expand the query in order to improve system recall. We propose a systematic expansion model for weighting the expansion terms coming from different parts of the document. To combine the expansion terms from query language and assisting language, we propose a heuristics-based fusion model. Our experimental results show an improvement over other PRF techniques in both precision and recall for multiple resource-scarce languages like Marathi, Bengali, Odia, Finnish, and the like. We study the effect of different assisting languages on precision and recall for multiple query languages. Our experiments reveal an interesting fact: Precision is positively correlated with the typological closeness of query language and assisting language, whereas recall is positively correlated with the resource richness of the assisting language

Riboflavin's time-dependent degradation rate induced by ultraviolet A irradiation.

To evaluate the time-dependent degradation rate of riboflavin after ultraviolet A (UVA) irradiation. Two solutions of commercially available riboflavin solution (0.1%) were used; one served as control, while the second was irradiated using UVA light at 370 nm wavelength. Four samples of riboflavin solution were retrieved prior to irradiance and at 1, 5, 15, 30, and 60 minutes after irradiation (group A); at the same time points samples of riboflavin were retrieved from the control solution in order to assess environmental time-induced degradation of riboflavin (group B). All samples were immediately analyzed using liquid chromatograph mass spectrometry to detect riboflavin and its 2 subproducts, lumiflavin (LF) and lumichrome (LC). Mean percentage of riboflavin degradation was 0.0, 5.3, 9.1, 15.3, 20.6, and 33.3 at 0, 1, 5, 15, 30, and 60 minutes after UVA irradiation, respectively (group A). The time-dependent riboflavin degradation was statistically significant (p&lt;0.05), while for group B there was no change in riboflavin concentration at all time intervals. In group A, mean LC concentration demonstrated a gradual concentration increase, reaching 2.386±1.526 ppm after 60 minutes of UVA exposure. The time-dependent degradation of riboflavin solution is significant, reaching 20.6% after 30 minutes of UVA exposure. It seems that only a small fraction of the overall riboflavin molecules break down since more than 65% remain intact even after 1 hour of UVA irradiation. Control riboflavin solution seems to be stable, as no degradation is evident even after 60 minutes

Targeting Mast Cells in Allergic Disease: Current Therapies and Drug Repurposing

The incidence of allergic disease has grown tremendously in the past three generations. While current treatments are effective for some, there is considerable unmet need. Mast cells are critical effectors of allergic inflammation. Their secreted mediators and the receptors for these mediators have long been the target of allergy therapy. Recent drugs have moved a step earlier in mast cell activation, blocking IgE, IL-4, and IL-13 interactions with their receptors. In this review, we summarize the latest therapies targeting mast cells as well as new drugs in clinical trials. In addition, we offer support for repurposing FDA-approved drugs to target mast cells in new ways. With a multitude of highly selective drugs available for cancer, autoimmunity, and metabolic disorders, drug repurposing offers optimism for the future of allergy therapy