Suicides in state prisons in the United States: Highlighting gaps in data

Objectives Our objectives were to document data availability and reporting on suicide mortality in state prison systems. The United States leads the world in mass incarceration, a structural determinant of health, but lacks real-time reporting of prison health statistics. This absence is particularly notable in suicides, a leading cause of death that carceral policies play a key role in mitigating. Methods Suicide data for each state prison system from 2017–2021 were gathered through statistical reports, press releases, and Freedom of Information Act requests. We graded states based on data availability. Results Only sixteen states provide updated, frequent, granular, freely provided suicide data. An additional thirteen states provided frequently updated data but that had little granularity, was incomplete, or was not freely provided. Eight states provided sparse, infrequent, or outdated data, and thirteen provided no data at all. Conclusions The 2000 Death in Custody Reporting Act requires that states provide these data freely, yet the majority of states do not. There is a need for reliable, real-time data on suicides, suicide attempts, and conditions of confinement to better understand the harms of the carceral system and to advocate for change

Impact of Age and Body Site on Adult Female Skin Surface pH

Background: pH is known as an important parameter in epidermal barrier function and homeostasis. Aim: The impact of age and body site on skin surface pH (pH(SS)) of women was evaluated in vivo. Methods: Time domain dual lifetime referencing with luminescent sensor foils was used for pH(SS) measurements. pH(SS) was measured on the forehead, the temple, and the volar forearm of adult females (n = 97, 52.87 +/- 18.58 years, 20-97 years). Every single measurement contained 2,500 pH values due to the luminescence imaging technique used. Results: pH(SS) slightly increases with age on all three investigated body sites. There are no significant differences in pH(SS) between the three investigated body sites. Conclusion: Adult pH(SS) on the forehead, the temple and the volar forearm increases slightly with age. This knowledge is crucial for adapting medical skin care products. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Base

Collaborative International Research in Clinical and Longitudinal Experience Study in NMOSD.

Objective: To develop a resource of systematically collected, longitudinal clinical data and biospecimens for assisting in the investigation into neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) epidemiology, pathogenesis, and treatment. Methods: To illustrate its research-enabling purpose, epidemiologic patterns and disease phenotypes were assessed among enrolled subjects, including age at disease onset, annualized relapse rate (ARR), and time between the first and second attacks. Results: As of December 2017, the Collaborative International Research in Clinical and Longitudinal Experience Study (CIRCLES) had enrolled more than 1,000 participants, of whom 77.5% of the NMOSD cases and 71.7% of the controls continue in active follow-up. Consanguineous relatives of patients with NMOSD represented 43.6% of the control cohort. Of the 599 active cases with complete data, 84% were female, and 76% were anti-AQP4 seropositive. The majority were white/Caucasian (52.6%), whereas blacks/African Americans accounted for 23.5%, Hispanics/Latinos 12.4%, and Asians accounted for 9.0%. The median age at disease onset was 38.4 years, with a median ARR of 0.5. Seropositive cases were older at disease onset, more likely to be black/African American or Hispanic/Latino, and more likely to be female. Conclusions: Collectively, the CIRCLES experience to date demonstrates this study to be a useful and readily accessible resource to facilitate accelerating solutions for patients with NMOSD

Suicides in state prisons in the United States: Highlighting gaps in data

Objectives Our objectives were to document data availability and reporting on suicide mortality in state prison systems. The United States leads the world in mass incarceration, a structural determinant of health, but lacks real-time reporting of prison health statistics. This absence is particularly notable in suicides, a leading cause of death that carceral policies play a key role in mitigating. Methods Suicide data for each state prison system from 2017–2021 were gathered through statistical reports, press releases, and Freedom of Information Act requests. We graded states based on data availability. Results Only sixteen states provide updated, frequent, granular, freely provided suicide data. An additional thirteen states provided frequently updated data but that had little granularity, was incomplete, or was not freely provided. Eight states provided sparse, infrequent, or outdated data, and thirteen provided no data at all. Conclusions The 2000 Death in Custody Reporting Act requires that states provide these data freely, yet the majority of states do not. There is a need for reliable, real-time data on suicides, suicide attempts, and conditions of confinement to better understand the harms of the carceral system and to advocate for change

Suicides in state prisons in the United States: Highlighting gaps in data.

ObjectivesOur objectives were to document data availability and reporting on suicide mortality in state prison systems. The United States leads the world in mass incarceration, a structural determinant of health, but lacks real-time reporting of prison health statistics. This absence is particularly notable in suicides, a leading cause of death that carceral policies play a key role in mitigating.MethodsSuicide data for each state prison system from 2017-2021 were gathered through statistical reports, press releases, and Freedom of Information Act requests. We graded states based on data availability.ResultsOnly sixteen states provide updated, frequent, granular, freely provided suicide data. An additional thirteen states provided frequently updated data but that had little granularity, was incomplete, or was not freely provided. Eight states provided sparse, infrequent, or outdated data, and thirteen provided no data at all.ConclusionsThe 2000 Death in Custody Reporting Act requires that states provide these data freely, yet the majority of states do not. There is a need for reliable, real-time data on suicides, suicide attempts, and conditions of confinement to better understand the harms of the carceral system and to advocate for change

Collaborative International Research in Clinical and Longitudinal Experience Study in NMOSD

Objective To develop a resource of systematically collected, longitudinal clinical data and biospecimens for assisting in the investigation into neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) epidemiology, pathogenesis, and treatment. Methods To illustrate its research-enabling purpose, epidemiologic patterns and disease phenotypes were assessed among enrolled subjects, including age at disease onset, annualized relapse rate (ARR), and time between the first and second attacks. Results As of December 2017, the Collaborative International Research in Clinical and Longitudinal Experience Study (CIRCLES) had enrolled more than 1,000 participants, of whom 77.5% of the NMOSD cases and 71.7% of the controls continue in active follow-up. Consanguineous relatives of patients with NMOSD represented 43.6% of the control cohort. Of the 599 active cases with complete data, 84% were female, and 76% were anti-AQP4 seropositive. The majority were white/Caucasian (52.6%), whereas blacks/African Americans accounted for 23.5%, Hispanics/Latinos 12.4%, and Asians accounted for 9.0%. The median age at disease onset was 38.4 years, with a median ARR of 0.5. Seropositive cases were older at disease onset, more likely to be black/African American or Hispanic/Latino, and more likely to be female. Conclusions Collectively, the CIRCLES experience to date demonstrates this study to be a useful and readily accessible resource to facilitate accelerating solutions for patients with NMOSD

Auditory Processing Disorders with and without Central Auditory Discrimination Deficits

Auditory processing disorder (APD) is defined as a processing deficit in the auditory modality and spans multiple processes. To date, APD diagnosis is mostly based on the utilization of speech material. Adequate nonspeech tests that allow differentiation between an actual central hearing disorder and related disorders such as specific language impairments are still not adequately available. In the present study, 84 children between 6 and 17 years of age (clinical group), referred to three audiological centers for APD diagnosis, were evaluated with standard audiological tests and additional auditory discrimination tests. Latter tests assessed the processing of basic acoustic features at two different stages of the ascending central auditory system: (1) auditory brainstem processing was evaluated by quantifying interaural frequency, level, and signal duration discrimination (interaural tests). (2) Diencephalic/telencephalic processing was assessed by varying the same acoustic parameters (plus signals with sinusoidal amplitude modulation), but presenting the test signals in conjunction with noise pulses to the contralateral ear (dichotic(signal/noise) tests). Data of children in the clinical group were referenced to normative data obtained from more than 300 normally developing healthy school children. The results in the audiological and the discrimination tests diverged widely. Of the 39 children that were diagnosed with APD in the audiological clinic, 30 had deficits in auditory performance. Even more alarming was the fact that of the 45 children with a negative APD diagnosis, 32 showed clear signs of a central hearing deficit. Based on these results, we suggest revising current diagnostic procedure to evaluate APD in order to more clearly differentiate between central auditory processing deficits and higher-order (cognitive and/or language) processing deficits