Hope, despair and transformation: Climate change and the promotion of mental health and wellbeing

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This article aims to provide an introduction to emerging evidence and debate about the relationship between climate change and mental health.</p> <p>Discussion and Conclusion</p> <p>The authors argue that:</p> <p>i) the direct impacts of climate change such as extreme weather events will have significant mental health implications;</p> <p>ii) climate change is already impacting on the social, economic and environmental determinants of mental health with the most severe consequences being felt by disadvantaged communities and populations;</p> <p>iii) understanding the full extent of the long term social and environmental challenges posed by climate change has the potential to create emotional distress and anxiety; and</p> <p>iv) understanding the psycho-social implications of climate change is also an important starting point for informed action to prevent dangerous climate change at individual, community and societal levels.</p

Understanding Polarizing Community Perspectives on Harm Reduction Strategies: Challenges to Addressing the Opioid Crisis in Appalachian Pennsylvania

Introduction: Rural communities face barriers to opioid treatment and overdose prevention including concerns about stigma and lack of harm reduction services. Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore community perspectives and understanding of harm reduction approaches to opioid use and overdose in a high-risk Northern Appalachian case community in Pennsylvania. Methods: A small town approximately 10 miles from Pittsburgh was identified as the community with the greatest predicted probabilities of epidemic outbreak using posteriors from spatial models of hospitalizations for opioid use disorders. We interviewed 20 key stakeholders in the case community in using a semi-structured interview guide and analyzed the qualitative data using an inductive grounded theory approach. Results: Our findings illustrate how conflicting perspectives about opioid dependence lay the foundation for the polarizing community perspectives on addressing opioid use and overdose and general disagreement regarding the legitimacy of harm reduction approaches versus abstinence-based recovery plans. Community members shared varying perspectives on multiple aspects of the opioid epidemic, including appropriate strategies, treatment, and overdose prevention methods and how community leaders and organizations should respond. Implications: Opinions, coupled with a general lack of education regarding opioid use and harm reduction options, make it challenging for small communities with limited resources to create comprehensive plans to address the opioid crisis

A Community Engaged Approach for Defining Child and Youth Thriving in Pittsburgh Communities

Optimizing child and adolescent development in diverse communities is a primary goal of health care providers and public health professionals. Developing strength-based interventions requires pediatric measures of thriving that span developmental stages and settings and resonate with families and communities. Despite recognition of the importance of positive assets and well-being on child health, we lack a clear definition of child/youth thriving that accounts for diverse community perspectives and environments

Urban Youth Violence: Do Definitions and Reasons for Violence Vary by Gender?

No Abstract

Impact of comorbidities by age on symptom presentation for suspected acute coronary syndromes in the emergency department

It is estimated half of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients have one or more associated comorbid conditions

Enhancing Dissemination and Implementation Research Using Systems Science Methods

Dissemination and implementation (D&I) research seeks to understand and overcome barriers to adoption of behavioral interventions that address complex problems; specifically interventions that arise from multiple interacting influences crossing socio-ecological levels. It is often difficult for research to accurately represent and address the complexities of the real world, and traditional methodological approaches are generally inadequate for this task. Systems science methods, expressly designed to study complex systems, can be effectively employed for an improved understanding about dissemination and implementation of evidence-based interventions

Three red suns in the sky: A transiting, terrestrial planet in a triple M-dwarf system at 6.9 pc

We present the discovery from Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) data of LTT 1445Ab. At a distance of 6.9 pc, it is the second nearest transiting exoplanet system found to date, and the closest one known for which the primary is an M dwarf. The host stellar system consists of three mid-to-late M dwarfs in a hierarchical configuration, which are blended in one TESS pixel. We use MEarth data and results from the Science Processing Operations Center data validation report to determine that the planet transits the primary star in the system. The planet has a radius of ${1.38}_{-0.12}^{+0.13}$ ${R}_{\oplus }$, an orbital period of ${5.35882}_{-0.00031}^{+0.00030}$ days, and an equilibrium temperature of ${433}_{-27}^{+28}$ K. With radial velocities from the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher, we place a 3σ upper mass limit of 8.4 ${M}_{\oplus }$ on the planet. LTT 1445Ab provides one of the best opportunities to date for the spectroscopic study of the atmosphere of a terrestrial world. We also present a detailed characterization of the host stellar system. We use high-resolution spectroscopy and imaging to rule out the presence of any other close stellar or brown dwarf companions. Nineteen years of photometric monitoring of A and BC indicate a moderate amount of variability, in agreement with that observed in the TESS light-curve data. We derive a preliminary astrometric orbit for the BC pair that reveals an edge-on and eccentric configuration. The presence of a transiting planet in this system hints that the entire system may be co-planar, implying that the system may have formed from the early fragmentation of an individual protostellar core.Accepted manuscrip

Persistent Chaos of Measles Epidemics in the Prevaccination United States Caused by a Small Change in Seasonal Transmission Patterns

Epidemics of infectious diseases often occur in predictable limit cycles. Theory suggests these cycles can be disrupted by high amplitude seasonal fluctuations in transmission rates, resulting in deterministic chaos. However, persistent deterministic chaos has never been observed, in part because sufficiently large oscillations in transmission rates are uncommon. Where they do occur, the resulting deep epidemic troughs break the chain of transmission, leading to epidemic extinction, even in large cities. Here we demonstrate a new path to locally persistent chaotic epidemics via subtle shifts in seasonal patterns of transmission, rather than through high-amplitude fluctuations in transmission rates. We base our analysis on a comparison of measles incidence in 80 major cities in the prevaccination era United States and United Kingdom. Unlike the regular limit cycles seen in the UK, measles cycles in US cities consistently exhibit spontaneous shifts in epidemic periodicity resulting in chaotic patterns. We show that these patterns were driven by small systematic differences between countries in the duration of the summer period of low transmission. This example demonstrates empirically that small perturbations in disease transmission patterns can fundamentally alter the regularity and spatiotemporal coherence of epidemics

The interaction of affective states and cognitive vulnerabilities in the prediction of non-suicidal self-injury

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a serious public health concern and remains poorly understood. This study sought to identify both cognitive and affective vulnerabilities to NSSI and examine their interaction in the prediction of NSSI. A series of regressions indicated that low levels of positive affect moderated the relationships between self-criticism and brooding and NSSI. The associations of self-criticism and brooding with greater frequency of NSSI were attenuated by higher levels of positive affect. The interaction of cognitive and affective vulnerabilities is discussed within the context of current NSSI theory