Violence Exposure and Pathways to HIV Risk Behaviors in Black and White Young Men who have Sex with Men

HIV remains a critical public health issue facing men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States. Young MSM (YMSM) ages 13-34 years account for the greatest number of new HIV infections in MSM, with Black YMSM bearing the highest burden of disease. Sexual risk behaviors (e.g. unprotected sex) continue to be the leading transmission mode for HIV among all YMSM and studies have indicated that these behaviors are associated with a number of psychosocial and environmental factors, including adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), exposure to violence, substance use, and mental health problems. Moreover, recent studies based on the syndemic model of HIV risk have shown that exposure to violence, substance use, mental health problems may interact to increase HIV risk in vulnerable populations, including YMSM. However, the relationships among these risk factors and their association with sexual risk behaviors in YMSM are not yet fully understood. Therefore, the purpose of this cross-sectional, quantitative study was to: 1) describe the degree to which YMSM engage in HIV risk behaviors, are exposed to ACEs and other multiple forms of violence, experience mental health problems, and use substances; 2) identify the ACEs and violence exposure, substance use, and mental health problems that significantly predict HIV risk behaviors in Black and White YMSM; and 3) test the indirect (through substance use and mental health pathways) effects of violence exposure on HIV risk behaviors. Data was collected using structured computer-assisted personal interviews from a convenience sample of 168 Black (97) and White (71) YMSM recruited at AIDS service organizations that provide HIV prevention programs and testing for YMSM in the St. Louis and Kansas City metropolitan areas. The current study contributed to knowledge regarding HIV risk behaviors and related syndemic risk factors in service-using YMSM. This study was unique in the assessment of adverse childhood experiences, multiple types of violence exposure, experiences of multiple types of mental health problems, and use of multiple substances in a service-using sample of HIV-negative Black and White YMSM, the populations at highest risk for HIV infection in the US. This study found that a substantial proportion of YMSM are exposed to multiple adverse childhood experiences, intimate partner violence, and community violence, all of which were previously unexplored or understudied in YMSM. Additionally, findings from the study identified unique significant mental health and substance use predictors of unprotected anal sex and number of male sex partners for YMSM when controlling for demographic factors. Further, although relationships between adverse childhood experiences or intimate partner violence and HIV risk behaviors were not significant in multiple regression models, this study demonstrated that adverse childhood experiences and intimate partner violence indirectly affect HIV risk behaviors through polydrug use, whereby higher rates of violence exposure lead to more polydrug use, which leads to a higher rate of multiple male sex partners. The results of this study have implications for social work practice and policy changes that lead to integration of mental health and substance use screening and referral into AIDS service organization that provide HIV prevention services. Moreover, results can be used by researchers to adapt theoretical models of HIV risk and prevention for YMSM

Apollo Lunar Surfce Drill bore stem design

Martin Marietta Corporation has submitted the Bore Stem Structural Analysis Report (enclosure 1) for NASA's review and approval. Since redesigning the bore stem joint was your recommendation, we are requesting your office support us in the review and approval of this design. We would also like your concurrence prior to approval of this analysis report.... The Bore Stem Test Report (enclosure 2) is submitted for your information, since your office supported these tests at Martin Marietta.Apollo Lunar Surface Drill Bore Stem Structural Analysis Report. Document No. 467A8060907 / by John R. Lager -- Apollo Lunar Surface Drill Bore Stem Test Report. Document No. 467A806090

Help is available: Supporting mental wellness through peer health navigation with young black men who have sex with men with HIV

Young black men who have sex with men (YBMSM) with HIV experience disproportionate rates of trauma, incarceration, poverty, racial discrimination, and homophobia. The synergistic effects of these adverse experiences, along with increased rates of mental health disorders, increase their risk for poor health. To address this need, the study authors adapted a current HIV service model to include a peer-health navigation intervention (WITH U) to attend to behavioral health, health literacy, linkage to services, and psychosocial support for YBMSM with HIV. This longitudinal, mixed-methods, nonexperimental study reports on the mental health burden among participants and the association between participation in WITH U and mental wellness outcomes. Participants

“We Are Doing the Absolute Most That We Can, and No One Is Listening”: Barriers and Facilitators to Health Literacy Within Transgender and Nonbinary Communities

Transgender and nonbinary (TNB) individuals face disparities in nearly every aspect of health. One factor associated with poor health outcomes in other marginalized populations is health literacy, yet no identified studies examine health literacy in TNB samples. Moreover, most health literacy frameworks focus primarily on the capacities of individual patients to understand and use healthcare information, with little attention given to provider literacy and environmental factors. In partnership with a statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization, we recruited 46 transgender and nonbinary individuals to participate in seven focus groups conducted in urban, suburban, and rural locations throughout Colorado. TNB participants consistently engaged in efforts to increase their own health literacy and that of their medical providers yet faced multiple barriers to improve care. Difficulty identifying and physically reaching care, insurance and out-of-pocket expenses, negative experiences with healthcare providers and staff, provider incompetence, discriminatory and oppressive practices, and exclusionary forms and processes emerged as barriers to enacted health literacy among participants. Conversely, facilitators of enacted healthcare literacy included positive experiences with healthcare providers and staff, and inclusive forms and processe

Mental Health and School Functioning for Girls in the Child Welfare System : the Mediating Role of Future Orientation and School Engagement

This study investigated the association between mental health problems and academic and behavioral school functioning for adolescent girls in the child welfare system and determined whether school engagement and future orientation meditated the relationship. Participants were 231 girls aged between 12 and 19 who had been involved with the child welfare system. Results indicated that 39% of girls reported depressive symptoms in the clinical range and 54% reported posttraumatic symptoms in the clinical range. The most common school functioning problems reported were failing a class (41%) and physical fights with other students (35%). Participants reported a mean number of 1.7 school functioning problems. Higher levels of depression and PTSD were significantly associated with more school functioning problems. School engagement fully mediated the relationship between depression and school functioning and between PTSD and school functioning, both models controlling for age, race, and placement stability. Future orientation was not significantly associated with school functioning problems at the bivariate level. Findings suggest that school engagement is a potentially modifiable target for interventions aiming to ameliorate the negative influence of mental health problems on school functioning for adolescent girls with histories of abuse or neglect

Plasma membrane proteomes of differentially matured dendritic cells identified by LC-MS/MS combined with iTRAQ labelling

AbstractDendritic cells (DCs) play a pivotal role in polarising Th lymphocyte subsets but it is unclear what molecular events occur when DCs generate Th2-type responses. Here, we analysed plasma membrane-enriched fractions from immature, pro-Th1 and pro-Th2 DCs and used a combination of iTRAQ labelling and LC–MS/MS to quantify changes in the proteomes. Analysis was performed on triplicate biological samples and changes verified by flow cytometry. MHC class II molecules and CD29 were up-regulated in pro-Th1 DCs whilst CD18 and CD44 were up-regulated in pro-Th2 DCs. One of the most down-regulated molecules in pro-Th1 DCs was YM-1 whilst the greatest decrease in pro-Th2 DCs was NAP-22. Other molecules up-regulated in pro-Th2 DC compared to pro-Th1 DCs included some potentially involved in protein folding during antigen processing (clathrin and Rab-7), whilst other non-membrane proteins such as enzymes/transporters related to cell metabolism (malate dehydrogenase, pyruvate kinase, and ATPase Na+/K+) were also recorded. This suggests that pro-Th2 DCs are more metabolically active while pro-Th1 DCs have a mature ‘end state’. Overall, although several molecules were preferentially expressed on pro-Th2 DCs, our proteomics data support the view of a ‘limited maturation’ of pro-Th2 DCs compared to pro-Th1 DCs

Proceedings of the 3rd Biennial Conference of the Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC) 2015: advancing efficient methodologies through community partnerships and team science

It is well documented that the majority of adults, children and families in need of evidence-based behavioral health interventionsi do not receive them [1, 2] and that few robust empirically supported methods for implementing evidence-based practices (EBPs) exist. The Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC) represents a burgeoning effort to advance the innovation and rigor of implementation research and is uniquely focused on bringing together researchers and stakeholders committed to evaluating the implementation of complex evidence-based behavioral health interventions. Through its diverse activities and membership, SIRC aims to foster the promise of implementation research to better serve the behavioral health needs of the population by identifying rigorous, relevant, and efficient strategies that successfully transfer scientific evidence to clinical knowledge for use in real world settings [3]. SIRC began as a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded conference series in 2010 (previously titled the “Seattle Implementation Research Conference”; $150,000 USD for 3 conferences in 2011, 2013, and 2015) with the recognition that there were multiple researchers and stakeholdersi working in parallel on innovative implementation science projects in behavioral health, but that formal channels for communicating and collaborating with one another were relatively unavailable. There was a significant need for a forum within which implementation researchers and stakeholders could learn from one another, refine approaches to science and practice, and develop an implementation research agenda using common measures, methods, and research principles to improve both the frequency and quality with which behavioral health treatment implementation is evaluated. SIRC’s membership growth is a testament to this identified need with more than 1000 members from 2011 to the present.ii SIRC’s primary objectives are to: (1) foster communication and collaboration across diverse groups, including implementation researchers, intermediariesi, as well as community stakeholders (SIRC uses the term “EBP champions” for these groups) – and to do so across multiple career levels (e.g., students, early career faculty, established investigators); and (2) enhance and disseminate rigorous measures and methodologies for implementing EBPs and evaluating EBP implementation efforts. These objectives are well aligned with Glasgow and colleagues’ [4] five core tenets deemed critical for advancing implementation science: collaboration, efficiency and speed, rigor and relevance, improved capacity, and cumulative knowledge. SIRC advances these objectives and tenets through in-person conferences, which bring together multidisciplinary implementation researchers and those implementing evidence-based behavioral health interventions in the community to share their work and create professional connections and collaborations

Lunar Surface Gravimeter characteristics

Describes the science characteristics of the Lunar Surface Gravimeter (LSG) Flight Model

Ten years of implementation outcome research: A scoping review protocol

A 2011 paper proposed a working taxonomy of eight implementation outcomes, their conceptual distinctions, and a two-pronged research agenda on their role in implementation success. The outcomes are acceptability, adoption, appropriateness, cost, feasibility, fidelity, penetration, and sustainability. Over 1,100 papers citing the manuscript have been published. Our goal is to compare the field’s progress to the originally proposed research agenda, and outline recommendations for the next ten years. To accomplish this, we are conducting the proposed scoping review