The Perils of Voice and the Desire for Stealth Democracy

This article is an address given at the May 2002 Maine Town Meeting sponsored by the Margaret Chase Smith Library in Skowhegan. Elizabeth Theiss-Morse takes issue with each of the alleged beneficial effects of increased participation and deliberation in politics. She presents evidence from her own research with colleague John Hibbing that suggests a more participatory democracy does not necessarily result in better decisions, a better political system or better people. Rather, most Americans would prefer not to have to participate in politics at all. Theiss-Morse explains where this view comes from and, in the end, argues for a civic education process that better prepares young people for the gritty divisiveness of our democratic system

Correlations of Cerebro-Spinal Fluid Examinations with Psychiatric Diagnoses; A Study of 140 Cases

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Investigating Perceptions of Out-groups in Sport and United States Politics

The current study investigated how fans and supporters of sport teams and political parties in the United States viewed relevant out-groups and out-group members. Specifically, perceptions of rival sport teams and political parties were compared to determine how fans and supporters differed in their views and likely behaviors toward out-groups. Findings showed that sport fans reported more positive attitudes toward their favorite teams and more negative attitudes of the rival team than in politics. However, political supporters reported more negative perceptions and likely behaviors toward the out-group than fans of sport. Additional analysis revealed that the common in-group influenced perceptions. Finally, political affiliation also influenced the way participants view and their likely behaviors. Research and practical implications are discussed, and additional research avenues are introduced

Reproductive Health Needs Among Women in Treatment for Substance Use Disorder

Integrated care models for substance use disorder (SUD) and reproductive health care have been proposed as a strategy to increase access to reproductive health care for women in treatment for SUD. This cross-sectional, survey-based study measured how women of childbearing age in residential treatment report their demand for and access to reproductive health care, their pregnancy intention, contraceptive utilization and preference for integrating reproductive health care with their current SUD treatment milieu. Eighty-five percent of the women interviewed (N=108) expressed a desire to prevent pregnancy in the next year, although only one-third (33.6%) were using a form of contraception at the time of the study. The majority of women (69%) reported their preference for the integration of contraceptive care and treatment for SUD. If cost was not an issue, 28.7% of women would prefer a long acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) and 40.7% would prefer either injectables, oral contraceptive pills or patches. Improving access to reproductive health for women in treatment for SUD by integrating these services may increase uptake of all methods of contraception and would be well received by most women. Eliciting the preferences of women related to family planning and pregnancy prevention and then responding to those preferences with affordable or no cost access to contraception is a public health imperative. These practice changes stand to improve the myriad health outcomes for women and children associated with unintended pregnancy in the context of SUD

Self–reported versus observed measures : validation of child caregiver food hygiene practices in rural Malawi

Few studies have attempted to measure the differences between self-reported and observed food hygiene practices in a household setting. We conducted a study to measure the level of agreement between self-reported and observed food hygiene practices among child caregivers with children under the age of five years in rural Malawi. Fifty-eight child caregivers from an intervention and 29 from a control group were recruited into the study. At the end of a nine-month food hygiene intervention, household observations were conducted followed by self-reported surveys. Overall, practices were found to be more frequently reported than observed in both groups. However, the difference between self-reports and observed practices was minimal in the intervention compared to the control group. The odds ratio results confirm that more desirable practices were observed in the intervention group compared to the control group. Despite the effects of reactivity during observations, the study results imply that the intervention group did not just improve their knowledge, but also translated the messaging into better practice. Researchers and implementing agencies in water, sanitation and hygiene and food hygiene sector should ensure that interventions are context-appropriate, and that effective methods of observation are used to confirm any reported effects of an interventio

An affine approach to Peterson comparison

The Peterson comparison formula proved by Woodward relates the three-pointed Gromov-Witten invariants for the quantum cohomology of partial flag varieties to those for the complete flag. Another such comparison can be obtained by composing a combinatorial version of the Peterson isomorphism with a result of Lapointe and Morse relating quantum Littlewood-Richardson coefficients for the Grassmannian to k-Schur analogs in the homology of the affine Grassmannian obtained by adding rim hooks. We show that these comparisons on quantum cohomology are equivalent, up to Postnikov's strange duality isomorphism.Comment: 28 page

Increasing Colorectal Cancer Screening Uptake Among Hispanic/Latino Patients: A Quality Improvement Initiative

Background: In 2021, cancer (CRC) screening rates for Latino men (42%) and women (47.5%) remain well below the Health People 2020 target (70.5%). Extensive documentation of barriers for screening include language, insurance status, and other sociocultural barriers which contribute to delays in diagnosis and/or diagnosis at advanced stages of the disease, and worse health outcomes. Latinos need culturally and linguistically appropriate health promotion interventions aimed to increase CRC screening rates with any modality (FIT, Cologuard, or Colonoscopy). Methods: The Donabedian Structure-Process-Outcome (S-P-O) Model for quality improvement was used to develop and target a provider-driven, language-concordant communication interventions for Hispanic patients who were eligible for CRC screening according to the USPS Task Force Guidelines in a primary care practice in Nashville, TN. Results: Out of the 458 Latino patients who were eligible for screening between August 2021-November 2022, only 124 were seen for an annual preventative visit in which screening was ordered. Out of the 124 patients who had orders for CRC screening and received the targeted communication intervention, 85 (68.5%) completed the screening and 39 (31.5%) did not complete the screening. Of those who completed the screening, 47 were insured (55.3%) and 38 were uninsured (44.7%). Conclusion: This study shows that with targeted, linguistically appropriate provider recommendation, Latino patients agree to recommended screening at rates that approach the national benchmark. However most eligible Latino patients are not receiving the recommended screening because they underutilize annual wellness visits during which this counseling/awareness typically takes place. This highlights the need for providers to provide counseling and recommendation for routine cancer screening during any follow-up visits to increase screening uptake in this population. Keywords: Hispanic/Latinos, insured/uninsured, self-pay, colorectal cancer screening, quality improvement, provider-driven interventions, language and cultural barriers

Shared Decision Making and Decisional Conflict in Women with Postpartum Depression

Despite well documented adverse outcomes related to untreated postpartum depression, many women face difficulty accessing care. A woman’s experience of conflict related to appraising treatment options that align with both her needs and her values can contribute to delays or barriers to seeking and accessing effective treatment. Shared decision making is the cornerstone of a collaborative patient-provider relationship and has been shown to decrease patient’s experience of decisional conflict. This cross-sectional web-based survey examined the relationship between shared decision making and decisional conflict for postpartum women experiencing depressive symptoms at an urban counseling center in Nashville, TN. Data were collected between October and December 2019. Decisional conflict was measured using the Decisional Conflict Scale. Perception of shared decision making was measured using the Shared Decision-Making Questionnaire (SDMQ-9). A total of 169 women completed the online survey. Of the 121 women who reported symptoms of postpartum depression, less than half were currently engaged in care for PPD, Of the 48 women who were engaged in care, there was a significant negative correlation between shared decision making and decisional conflict, p\u3c.05, Pearson’s r = -.287. Results of this study confirm finding of existing research that many women who are experiencing symptoms of PPD are not engaging in care. However, when women engage in care that reflects the principles of shared decision-making, they experience less decisional conflict. Providers who practice shared decision making in their care of women with postpartum depression may improve treatment engagement as well as myriad health outcomes for women and children. Keywords: Postpartum Depression, Women, Decisional Conflict, Shared Decision Makin

Label-free integrative pharmacology on-target of opioid ligands at the opioid receptor family

BACKGROUND: In vitro pharmacology of ligands is typically assessed using a variety of molecular assays based on predetermined molecular events in living cells. Many ligands including opioid ligands pose the ability to bind more than one receptor, and can also provide distinct operational bias to activate a specific receptor. Generating an integrative overview of the binding and functional selectivity of ligands for a receptor family is a critical but difficult step in drug discovery and development. Here we applied a newly developed label-free integrative pharmacology on-target (iPOT) approach to systematically survey the selectivity of a library of fifty-five opioid ligands against the opioid receptor family. All ligands were interrogated using dynamic mass redistribution (DMR) assays in both recombinant and native cell lines that express specific opioid receptor(s). The cells were modified with a set of probe molecules to manifest the binding and functional selectivity of ligands. DMR profiles were collected and translated to numerical coordinates that was subject to similarity analysis. A specific set of opioid ligands were then selected for quantitative pharmacology determination. RESULTS: Results showed that among fifty-five opioid ligands examined most ligands displayed agonist activity in at least one opioid receptor expressing cell line under different conditions. Further, many ligands exhibited pathway biased agonism. CONCLUSION: We demonstrate that the iPOT effectively sorts the ligands into distinct clusters based on their binding and functional selectivity at the opioid receptor family