Military Sexual Trauma: A Current Analysis of Disability Claims Adjudication Under Veterans Benefits Law

According to the 2018 Report of the Department of Veterans Office of Inspector General, military sexual trauma (“MST”) is on the rise, increasing 10% from the previous year. The Inspector General also found that the Department of Veteran Affairs (“VA”) improperly processed 49% of MST claims in the six-month time period reviewed. During this same time period, veterans’ benefits appeals took an average of seven years to complete, with one in four-teen veterans dying while the appeal was pending. These grim statistics, combined with an adjudication process described as an administrative “hamster wheel,” are untenable in a benefits system statutorily designed to be non-adversarial and veteran friendly. The advocate’s job is to help the veteran receive the full extent of allow-able compensation and to do so as expeditiously as possible. This article is intended to guide the veteran’s advocate through the administrative claims process, highlighting the major components of the process and the core legal concepts applicable to cases involving MST. The article will also identify the myriad of disabilities that can arise from MST, which are not limited to only mental health issues, so that veterans are properly rated for each and every symptom related to the trauma. Our hope is that this article provides a workable roadmap for the advocate, leading to better quality VA decision-making earlier in the VA adjudication process and better representation for veterans suffering from lasting effects of MST

A Snapshot of Online Wildlife Trade : Australian e-commerce trade of native and non-native pets

Funding This project was funded by the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions (Project PO1-I-001). Adam Toomes was additionally supported by the FJ Sandoz PhD Scholarship. Pablo GarcíaDíaz was funded by NERC grants NE/S011641/1 (Newton LATAM programme) and 2022GCBCCONTAIN.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Cerebellar modulation of memory encoding in the periaqueductal grey and fear behaviour

The pivotal role of the periaqueductal grey (PAG) in fear learning is reinforced by the identification of neurons in male rat ventrolateral PAG (vlPAG) that encode fear memory through signalling the onset and offset of an auditory-conditioned stimulus during presentation of the unreinforced conditioned tone (CS+) during retrieval. Some units only display CS+ onset or offset responses, and the two signals differ in extinction sensitivity, suggesting that they are independent of each other. In addition, understanding cerebellar contributions to survival circuits is advanced by the discovery that (i) reversible inactivation of the medial cerebellar nucleus (MCN) during fear consolidation leads in subsequent retrieval to (a) disruption of the temporal precision of vlPAG offset, but not onset responses to CS+, and (b) an increase in duration of freezing behaviour. And (ii) chemogenetic manipulation of the MCN-vlPAG projection during fear acquisition (a) reduces the occurrence of fear-related ultrasonic vocalisations, and (b) during subsequent retrieval, slows the extinction rate of fear-related freezing. These findings show that the cerebellum is part of the survival network that regulates fear memory processes at multiple timescales and in multiple ways, raising the possibility that dysfunctional interactions in the cerebellar-survival network may underlie fear-related disorders and comorbidities

The effect of cognitive load on faking interrogative suggestibility on the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale

In the light of recent studies into the impact of cognitive load on detecting deception, the impact of cognitive load on faking on the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS) was investigated. Eighty undergraduate students participated in the study, and were randomly assigned to one of four conditions resulting from a combination of the factors: instruction type (genuine or instructed faking, see Hansen, Smeets, & Jelicic, 2009) and concurrent task (yes or no). Findings show that instructed fakers, not performing a concurrent task, score significantly higher on yield 1 in comparison to genuine interviewees. This is in line with previous studies into faking on the GSS. However, instructed fakers, performing a concurrent task, achieved significantly lower yield 1 scores than instructed fakers not performing a concurrent task. Genuine (non fakers) showed a different response to increased cognitive load during the dual-task paradigm. This study suggests that increasing cognitive load may potentially indicate (and preclude) faking attempts on the yield dimension of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale

Experimental field evidence that out-group threats influence within-group behavior

In social species, conspecific outsiders present various threats to groups and their members. These out-group threats are predicted to affect subsequent within-group interactions (e.g. affiliation and aggression) and individual behaviour (e.g. foraging and vigilance decisions). However, experimental investigations of such consequences are rare, especially in natural conditions. We used field-based call playbacks and faecal presentations on habituated wild dwarf mongooses (Helogale parvula)—a cooperatively breeding, territorial species—to examine post-interaction responses to the simulated threat of a rival group. Dwarf mongooses invested more in grooming of groupmates, foraged closer together and more regularly acted as sentinels (a raised guard) after encountering indicators of rival-group presence compared to control conditions. These behavioural changes likely arise from greater anxiety and, in the case of increased vigilance, the need to seek additional information about the threat. The influence of an out-group threat lasted at least 1 h but individuals of different dominance status and sex responded similarly, potentially because all group members suffer costs if a contest with rivals is lost. Our results provide field-based experimental evidence from wild animals that out-group threats can influence within-group behaviour and decision-making, and suggest the need for greater consideration of the lasting impacts of social conflict

Don’t turn your back on the symptoms of psychosis : a proof-of-principle, quasi-experimental public health trial to reduce the duration of untreated psychosis in Birmingham, UK

Background: Reducing the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) is an aspiration of international guidelines for first episode psychosis; however, public health initiatives have met with mixed results. Systematic reviews suggest that greater focus on the sources of delay within care pathways, (which will vary between healthcare settings) is needed to achieve sustainable reductions in DUP (BJP 198: 256-263; 2011). Methods/Design: A quasi-experimental trial, comparing a targeted intervention area with a ‘detection as usual’ area in the same city. A proof-of–principle trial, no a priori assumptions are made regarding effect size; key outcome will be an estimate of the potential effect size for a definitive trial. DUP and number of new cases will be collected over an 18-month period in target and control areas and compared; historical data on DUP collected in both areas over the previous three years, will serve as a benchmark. The intervention will focus on reducing two significant DUP component delays within the overall care pathway: delays within the mental health service and help-seeking delay. Discussion: This pragmatic trial will be the first to target known delays within the care pathway for those with a first episode of psychosis. If successful, this will provide a generalizable methodology that can be implemented in a variety of healthcare contexts with differing sources of delay. Trial registration: http://www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN45058713 Keywords: Public mental health campaign, First-episode psychosis, Early detection, Duration of untreated psychosis, Youth mental healt